Coincidences
by Dry Tears
Summary: When a girl shows up with a horrible past, the Lyoko gang help her put the pieces together. Then Xana attacks and he's stronger than ever. Far too strong for Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, Odd, and Aelita to handle alone. Full summary inside. Better than it sound
1. Running

Disclaimer: If I owned Code Lyoko, would I be sitting here typing this? No I would be out getting everything I wanted off of the money I was making! But I'm not shopping so I don't own Code Lyoko.   
  
I also don't own Amaya Hart or Agrona. My friend Kaleigh (dracosgoddess56) owns them.   
  
Claimer: Ha! I own someone! I own Demetrius, but he comes up later on so you need not worry about him right now. Oh, and I own Shadow.   
  
Summary: A new girl arrives with a horrible past... horrible but mysterious. The mysteriousness of her past causes the Lyoko gang to help her put the pieces of her past together. Will she finally know what happened that fateful day? Just as she is getting cozy in her new school, Xana attacks once again, this time stronger than ever. Far too strong for just Ulrich, Yumi, Od, Jeremie, and Aelita to handle alone.   
  
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Ch. 1 Running  
  
I ran. Ran from the gore and pain of what was once my home. By my side, my wolf, Agrona, ran with me. Clinging on to her back for dear life was my black cat, Shadow. The soft padding of Agrona's paws comforted me, but only a little. Nothing could ever make the horrid sight that had branded itself in my mind go away. But I suppose that is what I get for running away for four whole years. Sure, I deserved some kind of punishment, like being grounded for the rest of my life, but this? No.   
  
To come home after four years and see your grandmother's gored body lying lifelessly on the ground was not something anyone would look forward to. Then to see that it was your own step-grandfather that had done it? I don't think so. She was the only one that ever cared to actually care about me after... their deaths. My step-grandfather? Psssh. He never cared. He was a drunk and a good-for-nothing loser. I still have a scar from when he threw a broken glass beer bottle at me when I had first moved in with them.   
  
I moved in with them when I was seven, right after my parents died. I lived with them for three years, the entire time taking beatings from my drunken step-grandfather when my grandmother wasn't around.   
  
What did I do in my four years away from everyone? Oh, I wasn't homeless. I was ten when I ran away, and quite capable of living on my own, being the independent girl I am, but a fighter found me. He taught me everything he knew and I soon mastered everything he knew. It included all forms of martial arts, sword fighting, stealth, fencing, archery, self defense, and the tricks of street fighting. Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy, and maybe a little impossible, but it's true. I was a quick learner, or so my master said. I was just as good as he was and helped him train a new runaway he found, Demetrius. We became friends, but I decided it was time to go back. Master made me promise to never forget him or his trainings, and to this day I haven't. Now back to where I am now. Running.  
  
I needed to find a place to live, for at least a little while. I would go back tomorrow and gather my stuff and get my horses. I had two of them, Storm and Mystic. Storm was a pure black stallion down to his hooves with stormy gray eyes, where I got his name from. Mystic was pure white down to her hooves with pale blue eyes, which were a little creepy looking at first, but held inner beauty. They were both three years old and I loved them dearly, as I did Agrona and Shadow. My only friends.   
  
I ran into a large grouping of forested area with Agrona at my heels. I stopped abruptly. I held perfectly still while my eyes darted around, scanning the area. Voices. I heard them. And apparently, so did Agrona, for she laid her ears back against her black head. The tip of Shadow's tail flicked back and forth in short rapid motions. I silently reached over and stroked Shadow's fur. He looked at me with big yellow eyes, awaiting my command. I pointed up a tree and he followed where my arm was going. He looked back at me as if confirming the action then leapt silently off of Agrona's back. He quickly clambered up the tree and into the branches, where it was so dark all you could see was his glowing yellow eyes, and that was only if you looked hard enough.   
  
I stopped and listened. The voices were getting louder. I placed my hand on Agrona's head and she looked at me with her unusual blue eyes. When I found her as a pup, she had blue eyes, but that was expected. But as she grew up and her eyes did not turn yellow, I thought she was blind. But it turned out that she could see just fine. I pointed to a clump of bushes on my left and she darted over to them. I put a finger to my lips signaling for her to be quiet and she was. As quickly and as silently as Shadow, I scrambled up into the same tree he was in. He turned around and gazed at me for a moment before looking at the ground again. With his right paw, he hung it down and swung it back a forth a bit, almost as if pointing.   
  
I looked down and saw four kids about my age walking. One of the kids, the only girl of the group, had her arm draped over one boy's shoulder. The boy, wearing black glasses, looked quite sad about something or another. On the other side of the sad boy were two more. One was dressed in green with brown hair and had his hands jammed in his pockets. The other was dressed in purple and had blonde hair with a strange purple spot in the middle. They were talking in low voices, but I could hear them perfectly.   
  
"'S alright Jeremie. We can work on the program tomorrow after school," said the brown haired boy. The girl nodded.  
  
"Yeah. It's probably Xana doing this to you. He obviously doesn't want to complete that program."   
  
"Don't worry. I don't mind kicking his ass one more time," the boy in purple clothes said with a grin. "I love watching him lose to us." The boy with the glasses sighed.  
  
"But what if we lose to him one day? Then I'll never be able to materialize Aelita for sure," he said sadly.   
  
"But he's not gonna win against us Jeremie. We're smarter than he is," the brown haired boy said with a sly grin. The girl nodded.  
  
"He's right you know," she said.  
  
"Yeah, I bet- OOF!" The blonde exclaimed as he tripped and went into the most perfect face-plant I'd ever seen. I bit my lip to contain my laughter, but my eyes widened in shock as soon as I realized just what he had tripped over. It was my bag. A small, worn brown leather backpack thing that I've had for years. The only things it had in there was my Sugarcult CD, Three Days Grace CD, Guns N Roses CD, two five inch daggers, and my CD player. But the thing I was really worried about was what was written on the inside. My name. I was frozen with the fear that they would look up and see me there. So I did the only thing I could do at the moment: stayed still and watched.  
  
"What the hell-?" The blonde said. Jeez, I thought. He's got a mouth like my step-granddad on a good day. He crouched down and picked up my backpack. He reached in and pulled out my CD's.   
  
"Who's ever this is, they've got good taste in music," he said, looking at the CD covers.   
  
"Well don't just look at the CD's. See who's it is. Maybe it's someone from our school," the brown haired boy said. I placed my hand on Shadow and pointed to my bag.  
  
"Get it," I said, my voice just barely a whisper. Shadow leapt down in front of the kids, making them jump back in surprise. They didn't know he was tame. Shadow ran in front of them and grabbed one of the backpacks leathery straps in his mouth and dragged it into the bushes. I pulled the hood of my hoodie up over my head and prepared to jump. Making sure they wouldn't be able to see me or the logo on my hoodie, and jumped down in front of them. The girl grabbed the brown haired boy's arm and let out a small scream.  
  
"Holy cow! Who are you?!" The blonde haired boy exclaimed. I let out a howl and Agrona came out of the bushes. I motioned for her to follow me and together we ran into the bushes and out of sight. I quickly climbed up a tree and watched their reactions with a small grin on my face. They were standing in shock staring at the place where I had disappeared. Finally, the girl spoke up.  
  
"Who was that?" She asked, still clutching the arm of the brown haired boy. He slowly shook his head.  
  
"I don't know. Definitely not anyone I know," said the blonde.   
  
"You'd better leave the CD's here Odd. That person might come back and get pretty mad if they're not here," the brown haired boy nodded and set the CD's back on the ground.   
  
"Let's go you guys," he said, looking at the CD's skeptically. The four of them turned around and began walking to where ever they were going. I jumped down and landed as silently as a cat, grabbed my CD's, and took off. The blonde haired boy looked back. When he saw the CD's were gone, he rubbed his eyes and looked again. Still gone. He shook his head in disbelief and caught up with his friends. I climbed higher up into a tree and looked over the treetops. They were headed toward some kind of school.  
  
"School huh? I'll go and enroll myself. Maybe I'll even find a place to stay till life summons me somewhere else. Either that or the cops find me and decide to question me," I said. I climbed down and found Agrona and Shadow sitting at the base of the tree waiting for me. Shadow leapt up into my arms and I bent down and scratched Agrona behind the ears. Her hind foot started to thump up and down on the ground. A sign she enjoyed it. I turned around, with shadow still in my arms, and patted my thigh, signaling for Agrona to follow me. We walked for a while until I found an old shed deep in the woods. It was definitely old, that I could tell. I cautiously opened the door and peered inside. There wasn't much except for a moth eaten blanket and a broken mattress. The springs were sticking out of the sides. Someone must have lived here, like, back in the last Ice Age... I thought. But it was the only place that would allow shelter if a sudden storm or anything came up during the night.   
  
I shook the blanket out to make sure it wasn't infested with maggots or something. I carefully laid down on the mattress, grimacing as I did so. Shadow jumped up on the mattress and curled up at my feet. Agrona curled up right next to the mattress and fell asleep instantly. I followed soon after, falling into an uneasy sleep where nightmares of my step-grandfather murdering my grandmother played and replayed in my mind.  
  
well there's my first Code Lyoko ficcy! Chapter one of it at least. Don't worry people the whole story won't be in the girl's PoV. Just this one. Please R/R! Can't you hear it? The little button down there is calling your name...hehe .   
  
love,  
Enya (my real name) 


	2. A New Start

Disclaimer: I'm still not shopping so I still don't own Code Lyoko. Amaya and Agrona still belong to Kaleigh.  
  
Claimer: I still own Demetrius and Shadow so nya! sticks tongue out   
  
Thank you to all who reviewed! Much love! kisses Now here's chapter two!  
  
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Ch. Two A New Start  
  
Amaya Hart woke up the next morning due to the sunlight streaming in through the broken window which she slept under. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and yawned. She slipped out from under the covers, being careful not to step on Agrona, and stretched. She heard a whimpering yawn. She twisted her head and looked behind her. Agrona had woken up and had her rear end in the air and was stretching her front legs. She looked at her with her big blue eyes.  
  
"You hungry girl?" She asked. The enormous wolf barked and wagged her white-tipped tail. Amaya laughed.  
  
"I am too. C'mon, let's go find a couple rabbits. And a mouse or two for Shadow," she said, looking at the sleeping cat. She walked to the decaying wooden door and opened it, only to have Agrona rush past her and out the door. She ran around in circles chasing her tail. Amaya put her finger to her lips and pulled out her dagger. Agrona stopped chasing her tail and crouched low to the ground, going into hunting mode. Amaya smiled. I love how smart my pets are she thought.   
  
The two crept into the bushes in search of a couple of rabbits. Amaya and Agrona heard a rustling of fallen leaves off to their right. Agrona crouched even lower to the ground if possible and leapt at whatever it was. Amaya stood up straight and put her hand on her hip. Agrona came out from behind the bush a minute later with a very large and very dead rabbit in her mouth. Amaya smiled at her wolf.  
  
"Good girl, Ona," she said, using the wolf's nickname. "That's about the biggest rabbit I've ever seen." Agrona wagged her tail and dropped the dead rabbit at Amaya's feet. Amaya bent down and hugged the enormous wolf around her neck. "Oh, I love you Ona. Now get another rabbit for me and I'll go find some mice for Shadow." Agrona ran back into the bushes and hunted for another rabbit.   
  
Amaya rooted silently around in the bases of trees until she found a small family of three mice. Even though she felt sorry for them, she shish-ka-bobbed them with her dagger. She turned around and saw Agrona sitting there, tail wagging, with another big rabbit in her powerful jaws. Amaya smiled.  
  
"That's my girl! When I go into town next time, I'll get you a special treat," she said. She put her finger on her chin and tapped it. "Hmm, maybe a nice juicy cow leg?" The wolf dropped the rabbit and stood up on her hind legs and danced around. No matter how many times she did this, Amaya was still amazed at how big Agrona was. When she stood on her hind legs, she was as tall as Amaya. Amaya ruffled the wolf's already messed up fur.   
  
"A nice big cow leg it is then. And how about a big bag of catnip for Shadow, eh?" Agrona barked and wagged her tail. Amaya looked past the wolf. "Speaking of Shadow..." The black cat was approaching them, blinking quickly as if trying to get all the sleep out of his eyes. Amaya crouched down.  
  
"Oh Shaaadow. Look what IIIII've got," she said in a singsong voice, holding up the three dead mice by their tails. The cat quickened his pace and ran over to her. She held them out to him, and he took all three of them by their tails in his mouth. She picked up her dead rabbit and pointed to Agrona's rabbit.   
  
"C'mon. Let's cook 'em up," she said. Agrona retrieved her rabbit and walked with Amaya over to the side of the shack/shed/decaying thing. Gathering some twigs and dead leaves, she put them in a pile and lined it with stones. She pulled her emergency lighter out of her pocket, lit a stick on fire, and threw it into the pile. The lighter was silver and had a very intricate raven carved into the side. On the other side, was the initials BRH which stood for her fathers name: Brian Robert Hart. Amaya's father was a smoker, and that lighter was one of the only things of his that she kept.   
  
Once the fire was going, she skinned her rabbit and stuck the bloody carcass through a long pointy stick. She held it over the fire and rotated it like a rotisserie. Next to her, Agrona was chowing down on her rabbit. The wolf looked at Amaya with a tuft of fur sticking out of her mouth. Amaya chuckled and looked at her rabbit. Nice and toasty she thought. She took it away from the fire and blew on it a bit. Then, she bit into it.   
  
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Odd woke up to see that Ulrich was already awake and staring at the ceiling.   
  
"Morning Odd," he said without looking at him.  
  
"How'd you know I was awake?" he asked. Ulrich chuckled.  
  
"You stopped snoring," he said slyly. Odd scowled at him. He threw the covers off of him and pulled his clothes out of his drawers. He put them on and headed out of the room.  
  
"Where're you goin'?" Ulrich asked, glancing at him. Odd grinned.  
  
"The cafeteria," he said. Ulrich rolled his eyes as Odd closed the door. He began walking toward the cafeteria and had to pass the office on his trip. He peered in the window and saw a girl about his age with long straight black hair stopping at her waist filling out what looked to be enrollment papers. He watched as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She was pale. Very pale. Odd wondered how anyone could get that pale. He would have stayed longer, but his hungry stomach got the better of him. He continued to the cafeteria where he heaped pancakes onto a plate, smothered them in butter, and drowned them in syrup. By the time he was finished, Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie were walking into the cafeteria. They sat down next to Odd.  
  
"Hey guys, I think we've got a new student," he said.   
  
"What makes you say that?" Yumi asked, smearing butter on her waffles.   
  
"Cause I saw her in the office. And it definitely wasn't anyone already in our school," he said, making a grab for Jeremie's pancakes. Jeremie pulled them away and scowled at Odd.  
  
"Did I hear you say new student?" Came an irritatingly high pitched voice from behind them. Odd and Jeremie turned around to see Sissy standing there with her slaves, Nicolas and Herb.   
  
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Yumi snapped. Sissy flipped her hair over her shoulder, smirking at them.  
  
"Well, it seems as though I'll be getting a new friend," she said smugly.  
  
"You're too self-confident. What makes you think she's going to be your friend?" Ulrich asked. Sissy laughed that annoying laugh of hers.  
  
"Everyone wants to be my friend Ulrich," she said in self-admiration.  
  
"I can name four people who want nothing at all to do with you," he said, smirking at her. Sissy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, who?"  
  
"Us." Sissy glared at the group and stormed off.  
  
"Yeah, just you wait and see. I'm going to make that new girl my friend and you guys won't stand a chance," she said rudely. The four friends laughed.  
  
"Uh-huh surrre," Odd said sarcastically. "Well guys, looks like we've got a mission on our hands," he said happily. "And personally, I'm ready to win."   
  
"I'll see you guys later. I'm going to go talk to Aelita for a while and work on her materialization," Jeremie said, rising from the table. Odd opened his mouth to say something and Jeremie rolled his eyes. "And yes Odd. You can have my food."  
  
"Sweet!" Odd exclaimed as he dug into Jeremie's food. Yumi and Ulrich rolled their eyes.   
  
---------- Later that day...  
  
Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie were in Mrs. Hertz's class waiting for Mrs. Hertz to arrive so they could get some extra sleep. Well, Ulrich and Odd at least. Five minutes after they had gotten settled and the rest of the class had filed in, Mrs. Hertz walked in followed by a girl whose hair was covering her face.  
  
"Class, we have a new student. Her name is Amaya Hart and she comes from..." Mrs. Hertz looked at the girl for an answer. The girl mumbled something incoherent. "Around here. I hope you will all make her feel welcome. Come on now, don't be shy." The girl brushed her black hair out of her face. She was the girl Odd had seen in the office earlier. Pale skin, slim frame, and nails painted black. She was wearing black cargo pants, classic Adidas shoes that must have once been white but were now very dirty, and a black hoodie with a white Punisher skull on the front. Her straight hair was as black as you could possibly think and it went all the way down to her waist.   
  
"Odd," Mrs. Hertz said. Odd looked up from his doodle.  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Hertz?"  
  
"I'd like you to show Ms. Hart around the school. At the end of the day, you may show her to her room."  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Hertz. Now?"  
  
"Yes, now would be good. Then you won't have to deal with anyone getting in your way," she said. Amaya waited by the door for Odd. Once he got up there, they exited the room. Ulrich turned around in his seat and smirked at Sissy, who glared at him in return.   
  
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"Well, down that hallway is the cafeteria and waaay down that hallway are the dorms. And over there-" Odd was cut of by a loud RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!!   
  
"There's the lunch bell. Let's grab some chow and I'll introduce you to my friends," he said. Amaya's green eyes lit up.  
  
"Alright! Some real food. I'm starving!" he exclaimed, heading toward the hallway that led down the cafeteria.   
  
"Alright, someone who shares a love of food," Odd said to himself, following her. When he got to the cafeteria, Amaya was already sitting at a table and was devouring a large helping of lasagna. Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi walked in right after Odd did. He walked them over to where Amaya was sitting.   
  
"Guys, this is Amaya. She's new here," he said. Amaya looked up from her food. She was about to talk, but remembered she had food in her mouth. She quickly swallowed it.  
  
"Hi," she said. Yumi smiled at her.  
  
"Hi, my name's Yumi and this is Ulrich and Jeremie," she said, pointing to them.   
  
"Nice to meet you all," she said. As soon as the four of them sat down, Sissy came over.   
  
"Hi. You must be Amaya. I'm Sissy," she said, sticking her hand in Amaya's face, expecting her to shake it. Amaya drew her head back from the offending hand and looked at it with a dark eyebrow raised.  
  
"Uhhh, hi I guess," she said, shaking Sissy's hand as if it were poisonous.  
  
"I was wondering if you'd like to come eat lunch with me and my friends? We're just over there. And the sun won't be shining right in your eyes. You have very pretty eyes by the way," Sissy said, obviously playing the role of Lieutenant Suck-up. Amaya looked at her dully.  
  
"Uh, no, that's okay. I'm fine right here," she said, already disliking the girl. Sissy sniffed, stuck her nose in the air, and walked away.  
  
"She complimented me on my eyes..." Amaya said as if she were still trying to understand it. "Is she straight?" The entire table burst into peals of laughter, including Amaya.   
  
"You know, I-I've b-been starting to doubt h-her m-myself!" Odd said through fits of laughter. "With t-the two g-goons she h-hangs o-out w-with!"  
  
"That was grand. I haven't laughed that hard in ages," Ulrich said.   
  
"Well, it's usually the guys that compliment girls on their eyes. Not other girls" she said, shaking her head in distaste.  
  
"Too true, Amaya, too true," Yumi said before splitting into another bout of laughter. The five of them spent the rest of lunch laughing, eating, and just having a good time in general.  
  
RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG!!  
  
The 'end lunch' bell rang and Amaya followed Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie to their next class and Yumi bid them farewell as she headed to her next class. Amaya soon found out that classes were boring, and she couldn't agree with Odd and Ulrich more when they said they wished it was the weekend.   
  
When the day had ended, Odd remembered that he had to show Amaya to her room.   
  
"So, what's your room number?" he asked.   
  
"Um, #264," she said.  
  
"Hey that's right next to mine and Ulrich's room!" he said happily. Amaya smiled.  
  
"Cool. I just gotta go get my stuff. But I'll get that tomorrow. I guess I just better go get Shadow," she said.   
  
"Who's Shadow?"  
  
"My cat. I can't leave him alone. He doesn't like being away from me. He's probably freaking out right now," she said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"There's this 'no pets' rule. But I won't tell anyone. I've got a dog in my room. My parents are on the other side of the world and I couldn't leave him with them," he said. "But anyway, I'll come with you."  
  
"Okay. He's in the woods somewhere. Let's go," she said. They walked to the nearest exit and looked around, making sure no one was there. They ran into the woods and Amaya led him to the shed she slept in last night. But she didn't tell him she slept there. She pushed open the door and was greeted by Agrona leaping up on her, knocking her to the floor. When she saw Odd, however, she bared her teeth and growled at him.   
  
"Jesus!" He said, backing up. Amaya looped her arm around Agrona's neck.   
  
"Chill out girl. He's a friend," she said. Agrona slowly approached Odd and sniffed around his legs. Sensing that he posed no threat, she jumped on him and knocked him to the ground as well, licking his face.   
  
"That is one big dog," Odd said once he got to his feet again. Amaya smiled, looking around the shed.  
  
"She's not a dog. She's a wolf," she said. Odd's eyes widened.  
  
"You have a wolf for a pet?" he asked incredulously.   
  
"Mmmhmm. I found her as a newborn pup and she was abandoned. I just couldn't bare to leave her alone," she said.  
  
"She's pretty damn big for a wolf, don'tcha think?" he said.  
  
"Yeah I realized that when she was a year old. When I saw more of the wolves around the area where I found her, I saw they were all like that. They were all so much bigger than normal wolves. Legends from medieval times tell of animals that were larger, smarter, faster, and more evolved than other animals. They called them 'Royal' animals. There were Royal Wolves, Bears, Falcons, Rabbits, Deer. You name it, it came in this 'Royal' race. According to legend, they all died when people found them. Since they were bigger, people hunted them for more meat. Some were still recorded to have survived, and I think Agrona is one of those 'Royal Wolves'" she said. Odd stared wide-eyed at her.  
  
"Wow..." he said. "Anyway, where is this Shadow?" Amaya bent down and picked a black lump up off the mattress.   
  
"Here he is. He's fat and lazy now since we had breakfast this morning," she said, cuddling the black cat against her chin.  
  
"What did you have for breakfast?"  
  
"A rabbit. Don't worry, I cooked it over fire," she said when she saw the horrified look on Odd's face. He looked at the cat more closely.   
  
"That's the cat I saw last night! And he ran off with that bag!" He said, pointing to the brown leather bag in the corner. Amaya put her hand over her mouth.  
  
"Oh that was you guys?! Oh, I'm sorry I scared you! You must have thought I was some kind of Aborigine..." she said, laughing softly to herself.   
  
"Not an Aborigine, just some crazy person who lived with a really big dog and a cat," Odd laughed.   
  
"I'll get the rest of my stuff tomorrow. I have to go back to my grandfather's house and get it. I'll leave the door open so Agrona can come and go. She can take care of herself, can't you girl?" she asked the wolf, who barked in response. "See you tomorrow Ona," she said as she followed Odd out of the shed. With her cat in her arms, and Odd walking next to her, they made their way back to the school.  
  
Well, there's chappie two! it's really late here so I'm going to go to bed or I might do a face-plant on my keyboard . R/R please! Byez! Oh I need heeeelp!! I can't get the bold or Italics to work. not even the underline. i know you have to highlight it and then press the button but when i pres save and preview it comes up just.. normal.. no bold or itlics or underlines... somebody please help me!! thanks!  
  



	3. Going Back

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Disclaimer: Nope, still not shopping, so nope, still don't own Code Lyoko.

Claimer: I still own Demetrius and Shadow. I now also own Mr. Gil and Master Oroshie. I bought them at "Characters R Us" For all your Character needs! XD

Thank you my lovely reviewers! I love you all! kisses

Summary for this chappie: Amaya has four new friends and she's living next door to Odd and Ulrich. Last Chappie: She goes back to the creepy shed-like thingey and gets Shadow, explains the whole Royal Wolf thingey to Odd, who gets thoroughly confuzzled. Now, I'm here at chappie three! We meet Amaya's drunken step-grandfather who is on the eternal quest for the jackalope! and will her past be revealed? of course it will! if I ask you that kind of question, you know it's gonna happen! (.) dances

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Ch. 3 Going Back

Amaya woke up the next morning and was happy to find that her back was not sore from sleeping on a bad mattress. Shadow also seemed to be comfortable, as he was sleeping on the extra pillow next to her face. Aside from the bed, covers, pillows, and window, the room was empty. Amaya didn't like empty. The only thing on the walls was a calendar. Thank god it was up to date, because Amaya had no idea what day it was. She got out of bed and staggered to the calendar. Saturday.

"Great, I can get all my stuff today," she said. She turned around to see Shadow looking at her with his great yellow eyes. She laughed softly.

"I should have named you Moon. Your eyes look like moons," she said to the cat. Shadow meowed in response. She smiled and walked over to stroke the cat's soft fur. Shadow purred and closed his eyes, leaning into the attention he was getting. Amaya got up and changed into the clothes she had on yesterday, as they were the only ones she had. She opened up the window, stuck her head out, and let out a howl that sounded so much like a real wolf's howl it was uncanny. Within a matter of a minute, Agrona came running out of the woods. She looked around, seeking where the howl had come from.

"Up here Ona!" Amaya shouted. The wolf looked up, wagged her tail, and barked her greetings. Amaya smiled and picked up the cat. She held him in front of her.

"You need to go with Agrona back to the shed, okay? I'll be there later. Don't give me that look," she said when Shadow looked at her with baleful eyes and meowed his protest. "I'm going to put you on that branch. All you've got to do is climb down. Agrona! When Shadow gets down there, take him back to the shed, okay?" she shouted down to Agrona. The wolf barked and wagged her tail again. She set Shadow on the branch of a tall tree and the nimble cat climbed down and met Agrona safely on the ground.

"Now, go to the shed. I'll be there later!" She shouted down to her beloved pets. Agrona barked and took off back into the forest, with Shadow at her heels. She closed the window and walked out of her room, down toward the cafeteria for breakfast. By the time she had her eggs, bacon, and sausage on her plate and had sat down, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie walked in.

"Looks like she's beaten you Odd. You've got some competition," Ulrich joked, elbowing Odd in the ribs. Odd, who was staring at Amaya in awe, didn't notice this. The four of them got their food and sat down with Amaya.

"So what are you planning on doing today as your first real day here Amaya?" Yumi asked. Amaya shrugged.

"Just go back and get my stuff and move it in here. Then I gotta go into town to get some food for my pets," she said.

"You have pets?" Jeremie asked. Amaya nodded.

"Four of them. Agrona, my wolf, and Shadow my cat, and Storm and Mystic, my horses," she said. Jeremie, Yumi, and Ulrich stared at her in amazement.

"You have a wolf for a pet?" he asked.

"Yup. She's so sweet," Amaya said wistfully.

"The wolf's cool. Once Amaya tells her you're okay and she licks you to death," he said, laughing lightly.

"Well, in any case, I'll help you with your stuff. It'll be easier than just you moving it all by yourself," Yumi said. Ulrich and Jeremie nodded.

"Me and Jeremie'll help too," he said. Odd grinned.

"Count me in as well." Amaya smiled at them.

"Thanks guys. I don't have much, and most of my stuff needs to be taken apart anyway. Storm and Mystic'll help carry some stuff. And I think my grandparents were keeping other horses as well. And I suppose Agrona can help," she said. Once they had all finished, they walked out of the school.

"So, where do you live?" Ulrich asked as Amaya led the group into the forest.

"Just past these woods. But I've gotta stop and get Agrona and Shadow. Then we can go to my grandparents house," she said.

"You live with your grandparents?" Yumi asked. Amaya looked down.

"Umm, yeah. My parents were murdered when I was seven and then I went to live my grandmother and step-grandfather," she said a bit sadly. Yumi bit her lip.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," she said, but Amaya shook her head.

"It's okay, really. It was seven years ago. I'm over it," she said. But she failed to mention that she was not over the death of her grandmother. The five of them walking into the forest and to the run-down shed thingey. She opened the door and Agrona pounced on her, once again knocking her to the floor. She then pounced on Odd and knocked him to the ground as well. She stopped licking him and sat back, looking at him and wagging her tail. Soon she saw Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi. She growled at them with her hackles raised and her teeth bared. Amaya rolled her eyes and looped her arms around the wolf.

"They're good too Agrona, chill out," she said. Agrona approached each of them, and she knocked each of them to the ground and covered each of them in poochie slobber. Odd and Amaya laughed.

"Is Shadow going to do that too?" Ulrich asked. Amaya laughed again.

"No. He's too damn lazy to do anything unless I'm in danger. But that doesn't happen much so he's a big lazy kitty, aren't you?" she said, picking up the cat that had wandered over to her. "Well, I've got everything. Let's get going," she said, leading the way out of that wretched shed and toward her former home.

When they finally got there, some forty-five minutes later, Amaya very carefully opened the back screen door. She pulled a dagger out of her belt loop and looked around.

"What do you have a dagger for?" Jeremie asked. They looked in the direction of the kitchen where they heard some slurred ramblings.

"God damnit, where's tha' jeckeylope?" came a man's voice. Amaya groaned.

"That's why. My step-grandfather. He's drunk again. He can get... violent... when he's drunk," she said. She pulled up her hoodie sleeve and showed them a silvery scar against her pale skin. Then an old man, Amaya's very drunken step-grandfather, staggered into the foyer.

"Ammieya! That jeckeylope got 'way again! Tha' sunuvabitch!" He slurred, holding a large vodka bottle in his hand and waving it around.

"Oh darn! You better go catch that jeckeylope! Look! He just ran behind you! He's real far away now! You better go catch him before he eats your tomatoes!" she said sarcastically.

"I..I.. I will! Here jeckeylopey! Lookit what Harold got fer ya, you sunuvabitch!" He said, swinging the vodka bottle around wildly. It hit the washing machine and shattered. He staggered into the kitchen, the half-broken aluminum door slamming shut behind him.

"Yeah, you get that jackalope, you asshole. Fall onto a big pointy knife while you're at it," she grumbled, glaring after the old man.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you don't like him, do you?" Odd asked.

"He made three years of my life hell and if he died right now, I couldn't care less. Hell, I'd throw myself a damn party. I'll bust out the party hats and all," she said. "My room's this way, c'mon." She led them down a narrow hallway. Along the base, there were holes in the drywall, and you could see that the pipes had been kept together with rubber bands, plumbers tape, paperclips, and other household items. Just inside the holes, were dozens of mousetraps. Amaya opened up the only door at the end of the hallway. The door had a huge hole in it along with dents, scratches, and missing chunks, which caused it to not shut properly. Upon seeing this, Odd looked at Amaya.

__

_ "He did this?"_ Odd mouthed. Amaya nodded sadly. His eyes widened, but he followed her into the room after the rest of the group. Her room was even smaller than the dorm rooms and there was barely enough room for the five of them to stand comfortably. There was junk piled on the bed and on the dresser. You couldn't step anywhere without stepping on clothes, shoes, or broken glass. The mirror had a big crack down the middle and there was missing a piece out of the upper left hand corner. The headboard, which must have once been beautiful and painted a pretty pale yellow with Barney on it, (from when she was little) was falling apart, the paint was chipping, and had a hole in the middle where her step-grandfather must have punched it while trying to hit Amaya. The light blue curtains had holes in them and were covered in a thick layer of dust. On the bottom was what looked like a blood stain.

Amaya opened her tiny and broken closet doors and pulled out a stack of at least fifty boxes.

"Just throw everything in there. Don't bother folding anything, cause I'll probably end up throwing half of it away anyway. Don't worry about anything getting broken, most of it already is anyway. If you miraculously find something that _isn't_ broken, wrap it in a shirt to keep it safe. Like the stuff on the dresser, scoop it all into a box and close it up. I'll be right back, I want to get out of these clothes," she said, pulling a pair of clean clothes out. She walked out of the room and presumably to a bathroom. She came back five minutes later in a pair of tight khaki bellbottom pants and a tight black tee shirt that said "Stupidity is not a crime. You're free to go" written on it. Like earlier, she had on her spiked bracelet, black wristband with The Claw (the Three Days Grace sign) on it, and about fifty black, hot pink, and lime green gelly bracelet things.

They were all piling things in boxes and stacking them by the door when Yumi let out a scream. She ran to Ulrich and hid behind him, clutching his arm like if she let go, she'd die.

"What is it Yumi?" he asked, trying to conceal his light blush. She pointed to a light blue hoodie.

"S-snake," she said, her voice shaking.

"It's probably wild. My pet snake died- Abby!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the snake and picking it up.

"Guys, this is Abby, my Boa Constrictor! I thought she had died years ago when I found her empty and broken cage in the road. I guess she's been hiding in the house this whole time, eating the mice. You're such a clever girl, yes you are," she said to the snake, holding it up to her face. She closed her eyes and smiled as the snake flicked her forked tongue against her nose. Yumi paled. Amaya placed the snake around her neck and continued placing things in boxes.

"How many other pets have you had?" Jeremie asked as he was putting a chipped, but still beautiful, figurine of a girl in a pale blue dress twirling around in a box.

"I've had a couple exotic birds, an iguana, hundreds of tropical fish, a donkey, a pot-bellied pig, a few snakes, two dogs, three cats, and a spider monkey," she said.

"You've had a monkey?" Odd asked. Amaya nodded.

"And never again. They're a pain in the butt to take care of. But they can entertain you for hours flinging their own shit around. Really funny actually," she said, laughing softly. The rest of them couldn't help but laugh. When they were all done, two hours later, they carried the boxes out of the house.

"What're we going to do with them, carry them back?" Ulrich asked. Amaya thought for a moment, then set her boxes down.

"Hang on, I'll be right back. You can set your boxes down, I'll only be a minute," she said. She ran off to the side of the house and soon they heard an engine start. She came around the house three minutes later driving a massive silver truck. It had huge wheels on it, making it about 6 inches off the ground. Amaya killed the engine, opened the door, and jumped out. They were expecting to hear some kind of noise but there was none. She landed as silently as a cat. She grinned at them and patted the side of the truck.

"My step-grandfather's pride and joy. This is the only thing in life he cares about. But he days are drawing short and I figured I'd just take it off his back. He's frittered his money away on drugs and alcohol and he's barely got any food left. He'll starve to death before he uses his pot money on real food," she said. They stared at her in disbelief.

"You can drive?" Odd asked in amazement.

"Yup."

"And how old are you?"

"Fourteen. I learned when I was twelve. I'll teach you guys if you want," she offered. Odd, who liked cars, was more than willing to take driving lessons.

"For another day. We gotta get outta here before that old ass in there comes out and sees we're taking his truck. Load her up!" she said, picking up a box and sitting it in the bed of the truck and sliding it to the back. Pretty soon, all the boxes were loaded into the bed of the truck and they were ready to leave.

"I'll be right back guys. I just wanna take one last look around the place," she said. She heard a chorus of "okays" as she walked back into the house. She looked all around and even though she was never happier to get out of there, she was going to miss it there. After all, one person in this house had once loved her. She walked into the living room and stopped at a particular spot. The white carpet showed a large spot that looked like it had been stained red and then back white again. The place where she found her grandmother. Dead in a pool of her own blood. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, but she would not allow them to fall. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced at it and saw the purple of the sleeve. Odd.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just used to play here a lot," she lied. She knew he knew she was lying. Normally she could just open her mouth and a lie would come out if she willed it, but she just couldn't lie very well about this topic.

"Oh. Well, I understand. You spent a lot of time here," he said knowingly.

"Yeah, but I guess I should get going. I'm never coming back here," she said. "Thanks for the help today," she said, turning and smiling at him. He smiled back.

"No problem. Let's go, the others are getting antsy. I think they wanna see the horses," he said. Amaya laughed and felt her uncried tears dissipate. They walked out to the truck where Yumi was holding Shadow and Ulrich and Jeremie were chasing and being chased by Agrona. Amaya laughed.

"You guys ready to go?" she called to them.

"I call shotgun!" Yumi shouted, running with Shadow in her arms to the other side of the truck. Odd, Jeremie, Ulrich and Agrona hopped into the bed of the truck.

"Hang on!" Amaya shouted as she started up the engine. With one last look at the house that had once been her home, she backed up, and drove through the forest, heading back toward the school.

When they got to the school, the parked the truck near the door and began unloading the boxes and taking them up to Amaya's room. When they were all done, Amaya parked the truck near the old shed.

"You guys wanna help with the horses?" she asked with a smile on her face. They all eagerly agreed and Amaya laughed. She left Agrona and Shadow at the shed because if the horses saw Agrona, they would get spooked.

"Two of them are mine specifically. Storm and Mystic. Both three years old. The other horses are Juniper, Scrunchy, and Lily. Storm's the biggest there surprisingly. He's a black stallion. Lily's next; she's a red chestnut mare with a white stripe and two white socks. Mystic is a pure white mare. Then there's Juniper; she's a dapple gray with a black star on her forehead. And finally Scrunchy, a dunalino. He's a mix between a dun and a palomino," Amaya explained as they walked back to the house. "The stable's waaaay back in the very back of the yard."

"I was wondering where it would be. Small house, biiig backyard," Jeremie said. Amaya nodded.

"My grandmother and me were trying to get him to extend the house while he was still in good shape but he was just a big ass and didn't do it. Heaven forbid he _do_ something in his life," she said, shaking her head. When they got back to the house, she opened the gate that led into the backyard. The grass was far too overgrown to even see the ground. When they got to the stable, they gasped in shock. The grass was eaten down to the dirt and there wasn't enough room in the stable for all five horses. The black horse, Storm, reared up and galloped toward them, nuzzling Amaya. She smiled and pet the horses head, giving him a kiss on the nose.

"My poor baby. Harold never let you out of this tiny place, did he?" she asked the horse. Storm neighed and pawed the ground with his hoof. Amaya looked over at the decrepit stable and saw a brown head peek out. Amaya laughed softly.

"You can come out Lily. C'mon guys! You can all come out!" She shouted. One by one, the horses filed out of the stable and surrounded the group.

"They're so beautiful!" Yumi exclaimed, petting Lily who had taken a liking to her. _They're all so big! How could any of them fit in that tiny stable?_ she thought.

"Yeah, they are beautiful horses," Ulrich said as Scrunchy licked his face. "How'd you know this one's mixed with a dun and a palomino? You can see the palomino in his coat but-" he asked.

"See that black stripe going down his back? That's called a dorsal stripe. All duns have them," she explained.

"Ummm.. ew..." they heard Jeremie say. They looked over and saw Juniper licking his ear. They couldn't help it; they burst out laughing. Even over the laughing, Amaya heard the faint sound of a neighing horse. Seeing it was not loud enough to be one of the five horses already out here, she slowly walked into the stable. In the very last stall was a blue roan colt, thin and sad looking. Amaya's heart instantly went out to the poor creature.

"Oh, you poor thing!" She said, carefully making her way over to him so she wouldn't scare him. She crouched down and the colt allowed her to pet him. Ulrich walked into the stable.

"Hey Amaya what's wrong?" he asked.

"This poor colt looks so underfed! It's amazing that he's not dead already. He looks like he hasn't had a square meal in months," she said. Ulrich crouched down next to her.

"Is he one of yours?"

"I dunno. I would suppose he is but I've never seen him before." She examined every feature on the colt carefully. A light seemed to click on in her head.

"Oh Lily!" She called sweetly. The beautiful red chestnut came trotting into the stable. "Lily, is this yours?" she asked the horse, pointing to the blue roan colt. The horse neighed and shook her great head up and down. Amaya smiled, got up and hugged Lily's neck.

"What am I going to do with you?" she asked into the horses neck. Ulrich, who was petting the colt, looked up at Amaya.

"We'd better get him some food. I can feel his ribs," he said, running his fingers over the colt's side.

"You're right. But the food's all out. Damn. I've got to ride into town and get some grain and hay for all of them. I'll take Storm and get my stash of money I've got in the house. You wanna come with me?" she asked. Ulrich stood up and wiped his hands on his pants.

"Sure. But, uh, how do you ride a horse?" he asked. Amaya smiled.

"You've never ridden a horse before?" she asked. Ulrich shook his head. "That's okay. I'll show you. Let's tell the others," she said, leading Lily out into the pen.

"Guys, Lily's got a colt in there and he's not doing too well. He's underfed. Me and Ulrich are going to go to this farmer and get some feed for all the horses. Anyone else wanna come with us?" she asked. Yumi volunteered but Jeremie and Odd opted to stay behind with the other horses. Amaya saddled Storm for herself, Lily for Yumi, and Scrunchy for Ulrich.

"Okay, we'll be back in about an hour and a half or so. Take the rest of the horses back to the shed. Let them graze around until we get back. We won't be gone long," Amaya said, mounting her horse.

"Scrunchy is a good riding horse. He's good with reigns. So is Lily, so you guys don't have to worry about them not following directions or throwing you off," she said. Then she looked at Storm. "This guy here can be stubborn, can't you?" she asked the horse. Storm neighed impatiently.

"Can you guys take the other horses back to the shed?" Amaya asked, turning Storm around to face Odd and Jeremie.

"Sure. But I have one question. Can I ride bareback?" Odd asked excitedly. Amaya laughed.

"Sure. I didn't think many people liked to ride bareback. Ah, well, knock yourself out," she said.

"Um, can I get a saddle? I just like using the saddle better..." Jeremie said, rubbing the back of his neck. Amaya hopped off Storm, who neighed indignantly. She walked into the stable and got a saddle. She placed the saddle on Juniper, scrunched her face up as Juniper licked it, and tightened the girth so the saddle wouldn't slide all over the place.

"There ya go," she said, climbing back onto Storm. "See you guys soon," Amaya said, pulling her hair back into a messy half-ponytail and giving Storm a small kick in the sides to get him walking. She twisted around in her saddle to make sure Yumi and Ulrich got their horses walking, which they did.

Once they get out onto the main street sidewalk, they got many strange looks from passersby. After all, they _were_ the only people riding huge horses. One person who was riding a bike behind them was getting angry.

"Get the hell off the sidewalk!" he shouted. Amaya pulled Storm to a halt. She turned around in her saddle and glared at the cyclist. She moved her left hand to the dagger that resided in the belt loop of her jeans. The man paled but maintained composure. Mumbling incoherent curses under his breath, he biked past them and continued on his way. Amaya turned back around and patted Storm's neck so that he would continue walking. She saw the nearly invisible dirt road up ahead.

"Turn left up here!" she said to Yumi and Ulrich.

They turned onto an old dirt road that cut through a massive cornfield.

"The guy I get my horse food from lives at the end of this dirt road," Amaya said. They were walking along the road when Amaya and Ulrich heard a painful neighing. Amaya turned around just in time to see Lily rushing past with Yumi screaming and pulling on the reigns for her to stop. Lily didn't stop.

"_HELP!!_" Yumi screamed as the horse continued running down the dirt road. Ulrich gave Scrunchy a sharp kick and urged him to chase after the runaway horse. Scrunchy let out a neigh and tore after Lily ad Yumi.

Just as Scrunchy was reaching top speed (which was pretty damn fast), Amaya and Storm surged past them. Amaya was pressed down against Storm's neck. Soon, Amaya had Lily and Yumi in sight. She ran her finger down Storm's neck and he went, if at all possible, faster. Once Amaya was up beside Lily and Yumi, she held out her hand.

"Take my hand!" She shouted. Yumi quickly took the offered hand and her eyes widened when Amaya stood up in the saddle.

"What are you doing?" Yumi shouted. She watched in both amazement and horror as Amaya hopped from her saddle and onto Lily's back, just behind her saddle.

"Jump onto Storm and stop him! I'll take care of Lily!" Amaya shouted to Yumi over the thundering and pounding of hooves. Yumi nodded, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and jumped. Behind them, Ulrich's eyes widened in shock at what the girls were doing.

Yumi landed in Storm's saddle with a dulled _thump_ and grabbed a hold of his reigns. She pulled him to a stop. Ulrich guided Scrunchy to Yumi.

"Yumi, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so. My butt hurts though," she said. She leaned down and pet Storm's neck, smiling.

"Thanks for catching me Storm," she said. Storm neighed happily and shook his great head up and down. Yumi and Ulrich laughed.

"What is Amaya doing and is she nuts?" he asked.

"She's stopping Lily and yeah I think she is. She might be a little nuts, but she's brave. She saved me," Yumi said.

"Well, c'mon, let's catch up," he said. Yumi and Ulrich urged their horses into a gallop and followed the dirt road.

Amaya grabbed Lily's reigns and yanked on them. The horse neighed but didn't stop. Amaya leaned down and began talking to the horse, her voice barely a whisper. She wasn't saying anything in particular; just talking to her. Sure enough, Lily began to slow down and she eventually came to a halt. Soon, Yumi and Ulrich came up behind them. Amaya dismounted and examined the horse.

"I don't know what went wrong with her. She's never ever done this before. Something must have scared her or.. Ah-Ha! Here's our problem!" she said. On Lily's hindquarters was a large reddish-brown welt.

"Someone must have thrown a rock at her and hit her hard," she said. She lightly brushed her fingertips over the welt. Lily neighed in pain and sidestepped. "Really hard."

"What could have been used? I know people can't throw big stones that fast to make a welt that big," Yumi said. Amaya shook her head.

"I dunno.." she said.

"A slingshot?" Ulrich suggested. "Do you know anyone who uses a slingshot and possibly hates your guts? What about you Yumi?"

"The only person I knew with a slingshot who had good aim was a boy I used to know named Demetrius. But he's long been dead," Amaya said.

"The only person I know who hates my guts is Mr. X, but he can't use a slingshot," Yumi said. Ulrich knew who she was talking about. Xana. "Him and Sissy, but she'd be too afraid to use a slingshot let alone go into a cornfield. It might ruin her outfit or she might break a nail," Yumi said, sneering at the thought of Sissy.

"Anyway, are you hurt Yumi?" Amaya asked. She shook her head.

"Thanks for saving me back there," she said.

"No problem. I'll ride Lily and you can ride Storm. If Storm gets hit, he'll run into the cornfield after the guy, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'll stick with Lily just in case," she said.

"Where did you learn to do that? You know hop from one horse to the other without killing yourself?" Ulrich asked.

"I've been riding horses since I was three. I know all sorts of tricks. I've been in horse shows and races and auctions. That's where I got Lily when she was just a baby. She won the Best of Breed: Red Chestnuts last year. Mystic's won countless horse shows, and I use Storm in races. He's won trophies out the wazoo. And I take Scrunchy to horse things where you just bring your horse and show him off. Scrunchy loves attention and the kids love him 'cause he's a dunalino. They like the name," she told them as they were walking down the dirt road. Soon enough, a big farm house and an enormous barn. They guided their horses over to the barn and walked around. Amaya saw a man in light blue overalls feeding some chickens.

"Hey Mr. Gil!" She shouted, waving to the man. The man looked up and squinted at her.

"Is that you Amaya?" He shouted back. Amaya grinned.

"The one and only!" The man walked over to her and gave her a big hug, which she returned. The name was darkly tanned and looked about in his early thirties with sun bleached brown hair. Covering his head was a big straw hat. His light blue overalls were covered in dirt and had a grease spot on the bottom.

"How ya been kid?" he asked

"Okay, how about you?"

"Right as rain. And who are these?" he asked, talking about Yumi and Ulrich.

"These are my friends from school, Yumi and Ulrich," she said.

"School, eh?" he said, shaking both their hands. "What about Harold?"

"I moved out. I'm living in the school 'cause they have dorms there. Besides, that old fart's gonna be fertilizer soon," Amaya said. Mr. Gil laughed. His laughter was a ringing sound and it reminded Yumi of a bell. "Anyway, do you have any hay and grain? Lily's got a colt that I didn't know about up until a half hour ago and he's not doin' too well. He's really thin and underfed," she explained.

"Yeah, I've got plenty of food. C'mon, it's in the barn," he said, leading them to the huge barn. When they got inside, Mr. Gil pointed to the hundreds of bails of hay and grain.

"I got at least five hundred bales o' hay and a minimum of a thousand sacks of grain. Take as much or as little as ya want. I don't got enough animals to feed all this hay and grain to. Only three horses and four or five cows," he said.

"Um, Mr. Gil, do you have any carts or something we can put the hay and grain in? We could attach 'em to the horses," Amaya said. Mr. Gil pointed to the corner where about fifty carts sat.

"Take as many of those as you want to. I got no use for 'em anyway," he said. Amaya smiled.

"Thanks Mr. Gil," she said.

"Yup, anytime Mya, anytime," he said, using his nickname for her.

They loaded up three carts full of hay and grain and when they were done, they hauled them out and hooked them up to the horses saddles.

"How much do I owe you Mr. Gil?" Amaya asked, pulling out a wad of money from her back pocket. Mr. Gil shook his head.

"You took all that food off my hands. It woulda just sat in there and gone bad. That's more than payment enough for me. And you can keep the carts so when you're done with 'em ya don't have ta bring 'em all back here," he said. Amaya sighed.

"Well, if I can pay you for the food, then here's fifty dollars for the carts and I won't take no for an answer," she said, stuffing the money into his hands.

"If you insist," he said, taking the money. He gave her another hug and watched them mount their horses.

"See you soon Mr. Gil!" She shouted, waving to him. He waved back and watched them until they had disappeared from sight.

----------_A half hour later, at the shed..._

Back at the shed, Odd was playing fetch with Agrona and Jeremie was playing catch the mouse with Shadow using a leaf as a substitute mouse. Soon, Amaya, Ulrich, and Yumi had arrived back at the shed with the hay and grain. They filled two of the carts up with all the hay. In the last cart, they dumped all the grain. Ulrich found six large wooden buckets in one of the carts. He wandered around until he found an old well with fresh water. With the help of Odd and Yumi, he carried the buckets that were now full of water back to the horses.

Amaya was feeding hay and grain to the colt, which Odd had named Sky, by hand. Each horse had their own bucket of water and plenty of food. Agrona went out hunting for some food and Shadow was proudly munching away on a mouse he had caught on his own.

Later that night, Amaya, Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were sitting around a campfire and toasting some marsh mellows and making smores with the food that Odd had gotten from his room. Shadow was curled up on Odd's lap and was gratefully partaking in eating the bits of food Odd dropped.

"Thanks for all your help today guys," Amaya said.

"No problem. It kept us out of trouble and away from Jim for the day. If it's a day without Jim, it's a good day," Od said, earning a laugh out of everyone.

"I feel so bad and nosy asking this, but how come you lived with your grandparents?" Jeremie asked.

"Well, my parents died when I was seven. They were murdered actually. The only thing I remember from the ordeal is a big glass screen. Like one on a computer. After that, I moved in with my grandmother and step-grandfather. The day I moved in with them, Harold got so drunk he threw a broken beer bottle at me and gave me the scar I showed you earlier. I lived with them from the time I was seven to the time I was ten. I couldn't take living with Harold anymore, so I ran away. I could have done fine on my own, but this guy found me. He was a fighter. A master of all sorts of things. His name was Master Oroshie. For four years I was under his care. He taught me everything he knew, which was a lot. According to him, I mastered all forms of martial arts, sword fighting, stealth, fencing, archery, self defense, gun handling, and the ins and outs of street fighting. As a gift, he gave me Storm and Mystic when they were young and taught me to ride them.

"Once I had mastered my training, Master Oroshie found another runaway. Demetrius. I helped train this newcomer before I felt it was time for me to leave. A few days later I went back to my house and I just saw my step-grandfather and wanted to leave.." she lied. It was a much better lie than what she had told to Odd earlier. Well, the main part was all truth. Only that last ity bity bit was a lie.

"Was there anything that happened before your parents were murdered that you found strange?" Jeremie asked.

"Come to think of it, there were a lot of power surges, people doing strange things, like repeating themselves, and really weird earthquakes. My parents kept mentioning this guys name, but only when I was asleep. When I was half-asleep, I would hear them talking. His name was really weird.. like Zonga or something like that.." she said, shaking her head. "But I can't really remember."

"Was it Xana?" Odd asked quietly, petting Shadow. Amaya's eyes lit up and she smiled.

"That's it! Xana! They kept talking about him and saying that they needed to keep me and some other dude safe. But I dunno who the other dude is..." she said. Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, and Odd shared worried looks.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your parents deaths. I wish we could help," Yumi said, sticking a marsh mellow on a gram cracker and taking a bite out of it.

"It's okay. It happened seven years ago and no one can change the past," she said. Though she tried to hide it, Odd could see the sadness in her eyes. An hour later, they were all tired and decided to head in. Amaya took Shadow up to the room with her. The group said their goodbyes and departed to their respective rooms. Yumi went home.

In Odd's room, Odd and Ulrich were talking.

"Should we tell her?" Odd asked. Ulrich shrugged.

"She told us about something that was obviously very painful for her to talk about. It seemed like it was one of her secrets. It would only seem fair.." Ulrich said.

"You're right. It's not too late. You call Yumi and I'll call Einstein. We'll tell them. I just hope they agree..." Odd said, picking up his cell phone and dialing Jeremie's number.

****

wowiekabootles. 12 pages and 6447 words. daaaaayum. well there's chappie three! it took me three days to write, due to my computer crashing and me losing all my work.. twice! well yup then. r/r!! byezzz!! .


	4. Keeping The Secret

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Disclaimer: I went shopping! I own it!

Lawyer: Grrrr

Me: Okay.. I STILL don't own it even though I went shopping!

Claimer: Yes, I still own Demetrius and Shadow and every other corkhead that shows up in here. Cept for the main characters but you know how that goes... xP

Artemis of the Ice: You don't think my story's crappy? Aww! . Thanks! P.S. I emailed the first chapter to your site thingey . Glad you like the story!

And thank you to every one else who reviewed! They really do mean a lot to me. I was having a really crappy day and then I saw the reviews I got and it totally turned my day around. I really mean it! I wish I could do something to show my thanks.... I know! Requests! Hahaha I'm a genius! You can request a story! As long as it's Code Lyoko, Teen Titans, Harry Potter, Kingdom Hearts, and most movies. I've seen a lot. It may take a little while to get them up cause I'm not that good at writing multiple fics but I'll do it if ya people want! I also take songfic requests! I _love_ writing songfics! Just give me the song, artist, pairing or whatever, and what you want to happen. Leave the rest to me! Okay then, enough of my rambling cause I'm sure you're getting sick and tired of it. Here's some more story!

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Ch. 4 Keeping The Secret

Amaya laid in bed that night. She's unpack her stuff tomorrow, when she wasn't so tired. She had a reason to be tired. She moved all her stuff into her dorm, gone into town to get some horse food, saved Yumi, and stayed up late with her new friends. _Friends._ A term she never thought she'd use. Shadow meowed from on top of her bookshelf. She smiled at him.

"Finally. I finally have friends. Real friends. People friends you dork," she said when Shadow meowed indignantly. "Friends I can talk to when something's wrong. And they could give me advice. And thank god I'm not the only girl." Shadow leapt down and landed on her bed next to her. He curled up at her face and looked at her.

"Just think, I'll have someone to talk to if I get a boyfriend. You know what Shadow, I'm starting to think this crazy thing called life is something worth sticking around for," she smiled at the cat and laughed lightly. "And to think I wanted to die just two days ago..." she said sadly, remembering how she felt the moment she saw her grandmother's dead body.

_ Flashback_

_ Amaya ran into the house after four years. She was happy to be back, even if it meant seeing her step-grandfather again. She was only looking forward to seeing her grandmother. With a huge smile on her face, she ran into the house._

_ "Grandma! I'm home! It's me,-" she cut off, seeing the light flickering in the living room. "Amaya," she finished weekly. She cautiously walked into the living room and immediately wished she hadn't. On the floor, her grandmother was lying in a pool of crimson blood with her throat slit and multiple gashes on her head, which you could see clearly through her gray hair. Her eyes were still wide open in shock. The overhead light was busted and was flickering. She looked over to the sofa where her step-grandfather was passed out. A knife was held limply in his hand. A bloody knife._

_ Rage consumed her body as she clenched her hands into fists. Her first plan was to rip the knife out of his hands and stab the bastard until every available spot on his body was covered in stab wounds. Instead, she called the police. She gave them her address, and told them to get there on the double. After that, she ran away..._

_ End Flashback_

Amaya blinked back the tears that threatened to spilled from her emerald eyes. She stroked Shadow's soft fur as he purred, leaning in to her touch.

"You're lucky you didn't know your parents. It didn't hurt when they died. You don't even know where they are. It didn't hurt you when your family was destroyed..." she said. "G'night Shadow," she said. She turned out the light and crawled under the covers. Outside her door, Odd's heart went out to her. For all intensive purposes, she didn't have a family. Dead parents, dead grandmother, and soon-to-be dead step-grandfather.

Odd walked back into his room to find Ulrich sitting on his bed.

"What'd Yumi say?" Odd asked.

"Yumi said it was fine with her as long as Jeremie agrees. What did he say by the way?"

"According to Einstein, all systems are go," he said. Their faces split into grins.

"Sweet. More help in Lyoko. Good thing too 'cause Xana seems to be getting stronger," Ulrich said, laying back in bed.

"Yeah and from what she's told us, she's one hell of a fighter," Odd said. Ulrich nodded.

"When should we tell her?" he asked.

"I'll take her to the factory tomorrow. Be there with Yumi and Jeremie. You and Yumi should be _in_ Lyoko. I'll take her in and explain everything. She might have a heart attack, but then again we almost did the first time we went to Lyoko," Odd said.

"Sounds good to me. See you in the morning," Ulrich said, turning out the lamp next to his bed.

"Night," Odd responded, turning out his own light and falling into a deep sleep.

__

----------The next day...

Amaya was unpacking her things the next day. The first thing she did was take out all of her CD's that totaled to about one hundred and fifty. She took her favorite CD by her favorite band, Three Days Grace, and stuck it in her CD player and cranked up the music.

At around 11:30 am, Odd knocked on her door. He heard loud music being played from inside. He slowly opened the door and peeked cautiously inside. Amaya was pretending to play the guitar on a ruler and shaking her head up and down to _I Hate Everything About You_ causing her hair to fly around wildly.

"Um, Amaya?" Odd asked. No response. "AMAYA!" he said loudly. Amaya shook her hair out of her eyes and looked at him. She grinned and turned the volume down, throwing the ruler onto her bed.

"Hey Odd, how's it going?" she asked, running a hand through her hair.

"There's something me and the guys wanna show you," he said.

"Sure, what is it?" she said.

"Come with me," he said. Amaya shut off her radio and told Shadow that she'd be back later. He locked up her room and pocketed the key. Odd led her into the park and stopped at the manhole.

"A manhole?" she asked. Odd lifted it up and allowed her to climb down before him. When he got down there, Amaya was looking around the tunnels.

"A gutter... neat," she said.

"You know how to use one of these?" he asked, holding up a skateboard.

"Hell yeah! Who doesn't?" she said, taking the skateboard.

"Okay then, follow me," he said, throwing the skateboard down and riding down the tunnel. He turned around and saw Amaya following him, skateboarding like a pro. They stopped at the ladder and Odd climbed up before her. He grasped her hand and helped her up. He could have sworn he saw her blush but he couldn't tell as her hair fell into her face.

"Follow me," he said walking down the bridge. He turned around, smirked at her, and took off at a run. Amaya laughed and grinned.

"I don't think so!" she shouted, running after him. She caught up with him but she didn't see him stop.

"Holy shit!" she shouted as she fell. She grabbed onto the ledge to keep herself from falling.

"Hang on Amaya!" Odd shouted. He ran over to her but he was too late. Her hand disappeared. Odd's eyes widened and he peered over the edge, expecting to see her crumpled body. But she waved up at him.

"Are you okay?!" He called down to her. She smiled.

"Dandy as candy. Is this where I'm supposed to be?" she asked. Odd jumped on a rope and slid down.

"You're not hurt at all?" he asked. You'd think she'd have hurt her ankle or something. Amaya shook her head.

"Nope. I know how to jump from really high places and not kill myself," she said, dusting herself off. "Where's everyone else?"

"C'mon. I'll show you," he said, leading her to the elevator. They climbed into it and he pushed the big red button. The whole time, Amaya was gazing around the elevator.

"Where're we going?" she asked.

"You'll see," he grinned at her. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Amaya gasped and looked around. There was a giant computer in the middle of everything and she was in awe. Jeremie spun his chair around and smiled at her.

"Hey Amaya. How'd you sleep?" he asked as if he wasn't at the controls of a super computer.

"Uhh... okay...What is this place?" she asked, walking over to Jeremie.

"This is the control room. Odd'll take you to the main part where they get to have all the fun," he said, grinning at Odd.

"You mean you don't get to have fun with them?" Amaya asked.

"I have plenty of fun right here," he said. He blushed when Odd did an imitation of Aelita behind Amaya. "Besides, I'm the only one who's smart enough to use this computer," he said.

"C'mon Amaya. I'll show you the scanners," he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back into the elevator.

"What scanners?" was all Jeremie heard before the doors closed.

"Odd, what's going on?" Amaya asked.

"Once we meet up with Yumi and Ulrich we'll all tell you," he said. The doors opened and Amaya's eyes widened. Three big cylinder like things stood before her.

"These are the scanners," he said. "All you do is get onto them and Einstein does the rest," he said. Amaya looked at the scanners skeptically. "I'll go first so you know what to do." Odd walked over to one of the scanners and climbed into one. He grinned and waved at her before the doors closed. Then, she heard a voice that she recognized as Jeremie's.

"Scanner Odd. Transfer Odd." Was all he said. The scanner doors opened again and Odd wasn't there. Amaya furrowed her brow.

"Odd, where are you?" she called, peering into the scanner.

"Amaya, it's okay. You can get in the scanner. It doesn't hurt," Jeremie said. Amaya stared at the scanner. Then, hesitantly, she climbed into the scanner. The gold doors closed.

"Scanner Amaya. Transfer Amaya." Jeremie's voice was dulled but she could still make out the words. The next thing she knew, she was floating and her hair was flying up around her. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the fall onto whatever. She felt a tingling sensation. The kind of feeling you get when your arm falls asleep. She felt it over her entire body and then it stopped. She landed in some kind of forest. She looked down at herself. She was dressed in all black. Most like her usual black clothes. Black cargo pants, black tee shirt, black hoodie, and black boots. She put her hands on her hips and discovered that she had a long sword, a Smith and Wesson six shot handgun, and shurikens (ninja stars). She pulled the long sword out of it's scabbard and looked at it. It was a solid steel long sword with a black band near the hilt. The sign of a sword master.

She wandered around just looking at her surroundings when she heard her name being called.

"Amaya! Over here!" Yumi called. She spun around to see Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich waving at her. She walked over to them.

"What is this place? And why do I have my weapons with me?" she asked.

"Well, you told us one of your secrets so we figured we'd tell you ours. Well, our biggest one at least. This is Lyoko," Odd said. They all sat down on the ground and Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd took turns telling her all about Lyoko and what they did there. Then, they told her about Xana and his plans to take over the world. At that point, Amaya stood up in outrage and began yelling to the skies that she would avenge her parents. Once she had settled back down, they began talking. Then, Aelita showed up.

"Hey guys. Jeremie told me you would be here and that you had a new friend. How do you do?" Aelita said.

"Aelita, this is Amaya. Amaya, this is our friend Aelita," Ulrich said. Amaya shook Aelita's hand.

"Nice to meet you. It's good you're all here really. I felt pulsations a while ago," she said.

"Pulsations?" asked Amaya, who was now both confused and in awe.

"Aelita feels pulsations when Xana attacks. Jeremie scans Lyoko to see if there's an activated tower. We kick monster butt, and Aelita deactivates the tower," Odd said. Amaya nodded and Yumi noticed all her weapons.

"Hey Jeremie, how come Amaya's got all these weapons?" she asked. The group heard Jeremie's voice.

"Because she knows so much about all sorts of fighting techniques. When the computer scanned her, it picked that up and gave her all these weapons and what she's wearing," he said.

"Neat..." Amaya said, pulling out her gun and twirling it on her finger.

"C'mon, I felt the pulsations down this way," Aelita said. The group took off with Aelita in the lead. They soon found the activated tower along with the welcoming committee. A big welcoming committee. A little too big and it caused suspicion to rise in Ulrich and the others. It consisted of five crabs, three blocks, and a megatank. Aelita sought refuge behind a large tree.

"Okay guys! Let's go!" Ulrich said, leaping on top of a block and running his sword through it. Amaya jumped into the fray along with everyone else. She pulled out a shuriken and threw it at a block. The crabs, who were not being battled, turned their attention to Amaya. They surrounded her and got ready to fire. Amaya closed her eyes and wished she was invisible. When she opened her eyes, the crabs were looking around like they had lost track of her. She looked down and saw that she _was_ invisible.

Using this to her advantage, she pulled out her gun and began shooting the crabs. One of them got away, however. He went for Odd, who had his back turned and was fighting the megatank. She jumped on top of the crab and shoved her sword through it. It's beam was thrown off course and hit a tree. The tree fell near the megatank, causing it to roll away and right off the cliff. Amaya dropped her invisibility and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Yumi and Ulrich, who were battling the remaining blocks, were having a hard time holding them off.

"It is me, or have they gotten smarter and stronger?" Ulrich asked through gritted teeth.

"I think they have," Yumi gasped out. She was short of breath when she threw her fan and it hit Odd in the shoulder.

"Yumi, you've only got ten life points left!" Jeremie shouted.

"Sorry Odd!" she shouted as a block took her remaining life points. Amaya watched in horror as Yumi disappeared.

"What happened to her?" She shouted to Odd.

"She's been devirtualized! She's back with Einstein now. C'mon, Ulrich needs our help!" he said, running to help Ulrich. Amaya ran after him.

_ Back in the control room..._

In the control room, Aelita popped up on Jeremie's screen.

"Have you found out what Xana was planning this time?" she asked.

"Nope. Hang on, let me see," he said. He typed something and the news came on.

"Julie Chang here with you at Manson's Park. It seems that all over the things here have a mind of their own. Our firemen are trying to get down young Jimmy Plain," the news reporter said. They showed a bunch of firemen trying to calm down and free and sobbing seven year old boy. The screen went back to Aelita.

"Xana has given the stuff at our local park minds of their own. Swings are tying up kids, sandboxes are spitting sand into people's eyes, and the jungle gyms are trapping others. I wonder what he's trying to do," Jeremie said.

"Whatever it is he's trying to do, he's not going to get away with it. Yumi just got devirtualized and Odd, Ulrich, and Amaya are fighting the rest of the monsters," Aelita said.

_ In Lyoko..._

Once the monsters were all cleared, Odd motioned for Aelita to come out.

"You're up Aelita," he said. Aelita walked over to them and smiled at Amaya.

"You're a great fighter. Thanks for all the help today," she said.

"Thanks. And no problem," she said, smiling back. Aelita ran to the tower, deactivated it, and they were returned to the past.

Odd knocked on her door. Amaya opened it and smiled.

"Morning Odd," she said. "Wanna come in?"

"Sure," he said, blushing as he did so. He turned his head and looked around her room to hide it. He looked up on the left wall, the one right next to his, and saw numerous weapons. Six swords, about fifteen guns, a bow and arrows, fencing swords, and other various weapons, including about fifty daggers.

"Wow..." he said, running his finger lightly over the black of one of the swords. When he looked at it, there was a nice cut and blood was already coming out of it.

"Damn, that thing's sharp," he said, sucking on his thumb. Amaya bit her lip and grinned. She reached in one of the boxes and pulled out a bandage. She wrapped it around his finger and offered him a lollypop.

"No, I don't want a lollypop you nut," he said, punching her lightly in the shoulder. "What'd you think of Lyoko?" he asked, dropping his voice in case someone was eavesdropping. Amaya fell back on her bed and grinned.

"It was _amazing!_ Finally, a place I can go and fight to unleash pent up energy!" she said happily. Odd smiled, sitting down on the bed next to her.

"Glad you liked it. We spend more time there than we like though. Xana's always attacking. But you've gotta keep this a secret. No one else other than us know about Lyoko. Well, us and Xana at least," he said. Amaya nodded, stood up, and put her hand over her heart.

"I swear on pain of death that I'll keep it secret, or may I be chopped up into little pieces and served in beef soup," she said in an official tone. Odd laughed and pushed her over, causing her to fall onto the ground with a thump. Shadow meowed from on top of the bookcase, where he liked to sit. Odd patted his lap for Shadow to come down but before the cat could make a move, Amaya close-lined him. (A/N: I hate AN's but a close-line is when you take someone down by hugging their waist and knocking them to the ground. It's fun. When you get a running start, it's a lot easier ;))

"Ha-ha!" she said as he fell to the ground. "As long as someone's not holding a sword in front of them and has it pointing at you, that move is almost guaranteed to take down _any_ opponent," she said, standing above him. She held out her hand and helped him to his feet. She looked at him and noticed he had a big ball of black fur in his hair.

"Hang on, you're got a clump of Shadow's fur in your hair," she said, picking it out and throwing it on the ground again.

"Thanks for that lovely fighting lesson and getting the cat's fur out of my hair," he said. Amaya grinned and faked a curtsey.

"At your service monsieur," she said with a fake French accent. They laughed and Amaya put in a mix CD. Marilyn Manson's song 'The Nobodies' began to play and Amaya and Odd sang along.

"_Today I am dirty. Want to be pretty. Tomorrow, I know, I'm just dirt,_" they sang in unison.

"I didn't know you liked Marilyn Manson," Amaya said. "You didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd listen to him." Odd shrugged.

"I listen to a variety of songs as long as it's not that twangy country or oldies. I _hate_ oldies," he said, shuddering.

"I know me too. It drives me nuts," she said, tugging at her hair. "But I listen to any song that I like. The only country singers I like are Shania Twain and Faith Hill. But they're not the twangy country. Any song I like, I listen to. The only country exception to that is Alan Jackson's song Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning," she said. The song on the CD player changed to What it is to Burn by Finch.

"I love this song. It's one of my favorite song in the whole world," Amaya said, twirling around with all the grace of a ballerina. She began humming along to the tune of the song.

"_Like a bad star. I'm falling faster in to you. Cause you're the only, one who knows what it is to burn,_" she sang. Her voice was amazing. The voice of a thousand angels.

"You've got a great voice," he said. Amaya blushed and smiled.

"Thanks," she said.

"You should enter in the Talent Show. The tryouts are next Thursday and the actual Talent Show is in two months. You could really do well," he said. Amaya blushed even more.

"No, I.. I couldn't..." she said, half-heartedly shaking her head.

"You could and you will. C'mon, I'll even be your mentor!" he said.

"As tempting as it sounds, I think I'll pass," she said sitting down on her bed.

"C'mon, do it for me. Please? There's a cash prize for the winner of each category..." he said, waggling his eyebrows up and down. Amaya turned and looked at him, curiosity creeping on to her face.

"What are the categories?" she questioned. Odd grinned. He knew he had her now.

"Well, there's Best Singer, male and female, Best Poem, and a lot of other things like who can act with a ventriloquism dummy the best," he said. "A whole bunch of stuff." Amaya seemed to consider the fact.

"You really think I could win?" she asked.

"From the people I've heard last year, you'd knock 'em six feet under," he said, swinging his fist through the air. Amaya looked down at her feet, then back up at him with a smile.

"Oh, alright. I'll enter. Only 'cause you begged me to," she said.

"Alright!" he said, jumping into the air. He sat down on the bed next to her. "So, what song do you think you wanna sing?" he asked, jumping right into the situation.

"Hmm... a song that... shows a side of me that I would never usually show..." she said. "A song that tells about what I used to do and what I want to do..." she said, getting up and walking to the window. The light bulb above her head seemed to turn on. "You know that song Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson? I've got a feeling that's going to be the one I wanna sing..." she said. She walked to her CD player and skipped a few songs. "Here, listen." They listened to the song and when it was over, Odd smiled at her.

"Definitely your song," he said.

"You really think so?" Amaya asked. Odd nodded.

"You hungry?" she asked. Odd smiled.

"Always. Let's go," he said. The two of them walked out of the room and dow to the cafeteria for some lunch.

* * *

**  
  
well there's chappie 4! is it obvious who Odd's going to end up with? yeah yeah yeah I know...•grins sheepishly• I can't help myself. ;) I like that song Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. It's from the Princess Diaries 2. I studied the lyrics and figured that this song would fit her.. in a way. look up the lyrics for yourself and see what I mean. well anyway, hope you liked it! R/R!**


	5. Voices in the Mist

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Disclaimer: Even though I went shopping.. I still don't own a damn thing... •grumbles•

Claimer: I own the creepy guy people in here and Shadow. I also own the horses. Yay.

Notes: I only use these, • , because I can't get the asterisks to work... grr on them... Hopefully it's obvious who Odd's going to get with.. Yeah.. Amaya. •impish• I can't help it! And of course, Ulrich and Yumi. Yumi and Ulrich with anyone other than each other is just wrong. And Jeremie and Aelita. Am I that predictable? Yes! Yes I am!! XP And I already have an idea for... drum roll please... A SEQUEL!! Yay!! It's killing me man... I gotta finish this but I got an idea for a sequel... ah, I spend too much time thinking in bed at night. When I'm not watching my shows... Ah, whatever. You're probably getting sick and tired of listening to me babbling like a monkey.. unless you're just not reading this.. if you're not then you're one smart cookie. xP!

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Ch. 5 Voices in the Mists

Later that day, Amaya was taking a walk through the woods with Storm. This past week had been full of pain and happiness all at once. Pain because of what had happened to her grandmother, and happiness because she had finally found friends.

"You know what Storm? I think my life might be turning around. Finally.." she said to the horse. Storm neighed as if saying '_I hope it does._' She smiled softly and petted his neck. They continued walking and Amaya was oblivious to the eerie mist that had fallen upon them. There was a rustle of leaves on her right. Amaya looked at the bushes skeptically and urged Storm to walk just a little bit faster.

"_Amayaaaa...Amayaaaa..._" A voice whispered from behind her. She whipped around in the saddle and looked around wildly. No one. Not a soul in sight.

"I'm losing my mind..." she murmured to herself. She turned back around and looked ahead. Visibility was about a foot from her nose and she could barely see Storm's head. She heard the voice again, only this time, it seemed to have gained vocabulary.

"_Amayaaaa... I'm waiting for youuu... You need to come back to meee... You need to come baaaack..._" the voice whispered. Amaya turned around again and looked around frantically.

"Who's there?" she called out, pulling Storm to a stop. No response. "I am armed and I'm not afraid to kick your ass," she said. She pulled her dagger out of her belt loop and slowly scanned the area. She narrowed her eyes. The tendrils of fog and mist snaked around Storms legs like shackles. He whickered nervously and pawed the ground with his hoof. The voice came again, this time it was stable and sounded more human like. Before it had sounded like an angry whisper, coming from the throat of the deceased.

"_Amaya... remember me. Come back to me,_" the voice said. Amaya recognized that voice. She furrowed her brow. Then, realization dawned on her and she shook her head slowly in disbelief.

"Who are you?" she demanded. The voice chuckled.

"_You know who I am. Remember me, Amaya,_" the voice commanded. She didn't want to remember him. He was dead. And the dead can't walk in mist or even talk for that matter.

"I know who you're _trying_ to be. Knock it off," she said angrily.

"_I'm not _trying_ to be anyone,_" the voice said. "_Say my name._"

"No! You're not him!" she said, her voice growing louder with every word she spoke.

"_Say my name!_" the voice hissed. Amaya clamped her hand over her ears. She slid off the saddle and onto her knees. Storm walked around behind her and whinnied softly.

"You are _not_ Demetrius!" she shouted, slamming her eyes shut. After staying with her hands over her ears for a moment, she lowered them and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw were narrow blue eyes looking right back at her. The person placed their hand on her cheek.

"But I am," he whispered. He had on black eyeliner and was dressed in all black. His black hair hung loose and was looking scraggly as it touched his shoulders. His stubby nails were painted black and the polish was chipping. Along the deathly pale skin of his arm were scars and scabs. Amaya looked at him with her mouth slightly opened and eyes wide.

"You _can't_ be Demetrius. He's dead! He died three months ago when he was shot!" she said, scooting back away from him.

"I never died Amaya. That's what I wanted them to think. But I'm back and you've nothing to worry about, love" he said. His hand inched around to the back of her neck and he tried to pull her head to his. She shoved it away.

"I'm not your love. I never was and I never will be," she spat. Quicker than he could blink, she pulled out her dagger and slashed it down his arm. He withdrew quickly and sucked in a painful breath through clenched teeth. She quickly mounted Storm and urged him into a gallop. They took off just as this so called 'Demetrius' lunged at them. She looked back and saw him standing there, watching them as they ran.

"We _will_ meet again, my little dove. You can count on it," he said to himself. But somehow, he knew she heard it. With the next breeze, he had disappeared.

Once Amaya was sure she was far away from him, she slowed Storm to a stop. She climbed off of him and stood next to him, stroking his sleek black coat.

"That wasn't our last meeting with him. Not mine at least. I can feel it in my bones," she told the horse, staring ahead. She turned to the side, threw her head back, and howled. Exactly like a wolf's howl. Within a minute's time, Agrona came barreling through the underbrush. She ran up to Amaya and knocked her down, licking her face. When she was done, she sat back on her haunches and wagged her tail. Amaya crouched down in front of the wolf and looked her in the eyes.

"Agrona, I need you to do me a favor. Look for Demetrius," she said, hoping the wolf would remember him. She did, and she turned her head to the side and growled viciously. "Make sure you are not seen nor heard. Come find me when you're done, okay?" The wolf barked. "Be careful," she said as Agrona took off down the trail where she had previously been. She turned to Storm and mounted him, urging him to run back to the shed.

When she got to the shed, she scrambled off of him and ran toward the school. She hoped her friends were outside. They were, and she ran toward them. She stumbled and almost fell but she regained her footing and ran up to them, panting and gasping for breath.

"Amaya, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost," Yumi said in a concerned tone.

"You could that," Amaya said. She was about to explain to them everything that happened when they head a piercing screeching sound from above. They all looked up and saw some sort of bird flying at them. It was flying toward them when something struck it in the wing. The bird, along with what had struck it's wing, hurtled toward the ground. The bird hit the ground with a dull thump and the stone that had struck it hit Odd's head. Yumi gasped and walked toward the bid to make sure it was okay, but the bird made angry screeching and hissing noises. Yumi stopped in her tracks.

"It's a peregrine falcon. A really, really big one," Amaya said, looking at the large blue-gray bird. She slowly walked toward it and it started hissing at her as well. But this didn't stop her. She began whispering to the bird like she done with Lily yesterday. Just whispering to it. The bird slowly stopped screeching and hissing and allowed Amaya to pet it. She picked up the bird carefully, knowing that it's talons and beak could tear her arm to shreds. When she turned around, her friends were staring at her in amazement.

"How'd you do that? He wouldn't let me come near him let alone pick him up!" Yumi said. Amaya smiled.

"It's an old trick Master Oroshie taught me. It's how I stopped Lily yesterday. I just whisper to the animals. They're like people in a way, and like people, hearing a calm voice soothes them and calms them down. Here, try," she said, holding out the bird to Yumi. She looked at the bird as it started hissing at her.

"What do I say?" she asked. Amaya shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. They hear a calm voice and they calm down," she said. Yumi approached the bird and began whispering to it. She felt a little foolish, whispering to a bird, but when he calmed down and allowed her to pet him, all foolishness left her. She smiled as she stroked the birds soft feathers. Soon, the rest of the group had earned the bird's trust. Amaya sat on a bench and examined the bird.

"His wing looks broken," she said. Odd hadn't paid much attention to it, but now that he remembered he was hit with the falling stone, his head started throbbing.

"Yeah, and I think that damn rock broke my head," he said, rubbing his head tenderly where the rock hit him.

"You'll live," Jeremie said. Odd stuck his tongue out at Jeremie.

"Hmm, what's this?" Amaya said, pulling a piece of paper from the bird's foot. They all gathered around her and read the letter to themselves.

_ Amaya,_

_ We'll meet again my dove. I will find you and I will bring you back. Do not fret my dove. You will know when I am coming. Until then, listen to the mist whenever you want to hear me._

_ Demetrius_

Amaya let the letter fall into her lap next to the bird. The falcon looked at the letter, cocked his head to the side, and pecked it with his beak. She hung her head and covered her face with her hands, digging her fingertips into her hair.

"Amaya, who is this Demetrius guy?" Ulrich asked. Amaya sighed and dragged her hands down her face.

"He's the other runaway Master Oroshie found. But as soon as he found him, Master fell ill. I had to teach the new guy. He had some kind of infatuation with me. I taught him a lot, then Master got well and took over. I left after that. But three months ago, he was supposedly shot and killed in an alley. Supposedly. But I saw him today. I was walking with Storm when I heard him. He kept telling me to come back to him. But I was never with him. I'm fourteen and he's seventeen!" she told them.

"And... this letter is from him?" Odd said, looking at the letter that was being pecked to death by the falcon, who had hopped off of Amaya's lap with the letter. He was on the bench and happily pecking away at the letter, as if it was a foul evil and needed to be destroyed. Amaya nodded slowly.

"But, he's no match for me. Sure, he's a lot stronger than me, but he never finished his teachings. He ran away after I stopped teaching him and he was 'shot.' He never let Master Oroshie finish teaching him," she said. "I know more than him. He wasn't that good a fighter anyway. Well, he was good, but not focused. He was bent on beating the shit out of anyone who opposed him and girls."

"So, you're not worried about him?" Jeremie asked. Amaya shook her head.

"Nope, not at all," she lied.

__

Meanwhile...

"Master, I have returned," Demetrius typed. Soft lime green words appeared on the large screen in front of him.

_ "Did you deliver the message and talk to the girl?_"

"As you ordered, Master. She ran to inform her friends. The falcon I sent oversaw that. I then shot the falcon down, as you ordered." He typed.

"_Good job Demetrius. You have done well. You may rest,_" appeared across the screen.

"Master, will I receive what I have been promised when you are finished with your plans?" Demetrius typed.

"_As long as you continue to work for me and do not fail, your reward will be granted,_" is what appeared on the screen.

"Yes, Master Xana," he typed. The computer turned itself off, not wanting to be bothered any longer. Demetrius turned and walked out of the room and into his. He laid down on his bed.

"Master shall destroy Amaya's friends, and he will get his prize. Control of the world. And I will get mine: Amaya."

__

At the school...

"Guys, I'm telling you, I don't have anything to be afraid of. Demetrius is smart enough not to come near me in school. And if he does, he'd still be no match for me," Amaya said. They had all gone inside when it had started raining. Amaya was carrying the falcon with her and Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie were surrounding her, acting as an escort to her room.

"Still," Yumi said. Amaya unlocked her door and set the falcon on her dresser gently. She heard barking from below. She walked over to the window and her friends followed her. She looked out the window and saw Agrona standing below her.

"Did you find anything?" she called down to the wolf. Agrona whimpered and laid down, looking up at Amaya with big blue eyes. "Not even a scent?" Agrona whimpered again. "Damn!" she cursed out loud. "It's okay Agrona. Thanks anyway. See you tomorrow!" she called down to the wolf. The wolf barked and ran back into the forest. Amaya shut her window and dove headfirst into her bed.

"Why does he have to do this to me now?! Just as I was feeling happy for the first time in years!" she said, her words muffled by her pillow. Yumi sat down on the bed next to her and Odd sat down on the floor. Ulrich and Jeremie leaned up against the dresser and Ulrich picked up the falcon.

"Uggh I hate him! The stupid gothic bastard..." Amaya grumbled. "Why couldn't he have just died? I swear, someone up there does _not_ like me," she said, pointing to the sky without lifting her head from her pillow.

"Well someone up there _must_ like you at lest a little bit," Odd said, grinning.

"What makes you say that?" Amaya asked, lifting her head from her pillow.

"Cause now you've got us for friends!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. Amaya laughed and threw a pillow at him. Ulrich's eyes lit up as he set down the falcon and ran into his room. He returned a moment later with two pillows.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" he shouted loudly, tossing a pillow to Odd, who grinned and caught it. Amaya tossed a pillow to Yumi and Jeremie and turned her music on, cranking up the volume. Yumi swung her pillow at Odd and hit him in the head.

"Uhhh" he said, swaggering on the spot. Yumi laughed and turned around to attack Ulrich, who was beaning Jeremie on the head. Before she could attack, she was hit with both Odd's and Amaya's pillows.

"Uh-uh, my target," Amaya said, swinging her pillow at Odd. They got into their own battle. The music was loud and everyone was having a good time. When they finally stopped, it was around eleven at night. Everyone was either laying on the floor or on the bed.

"That was fun," Yumi said. Everyone nodded.

"Yeah it was fun. Nice to get a break from saving the world, you know? Well, I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Jeremie said. He waved goodbye and walked back to his own dorm. Yumi yawned.

"I'd better get going too. I'm gonna get an earful when I get home..." she said, rolling her eyes. Ulrich stood up.

"I'll walk you home," he said. Yumi smiled.

"Okay, see you guys tomorrow!" she said. She waved goodbye and walked out the door. Ulrich looked back to see that Odd was making kissey faces at him. Ulrich blushed and threw a pillow at him. He left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Phew, that was fun," Amaya said. Odd nodded. She got up and turned her music down as a song by 'The Cure' came on.

"Why'd you turn it down?" he asked.

"Not all music needs to be listened to so loud it shakes the walls," she said, putting her Three Days Grace CD in it's jewel case and putting it in the CD holder.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Ulrich and Yumi like each other," she said, smirking. Odd laughed.

"Yeah I think they do too. We know it, and I got a feeling _they_ know it. But they've got to admit it," he said.

"How long do you think it's gonna take?"

"Eh, who knows. Could be a loooong time. Anyways, are you sure you're gonna be fine in here?" he asked. Amaya laughed.

"I'll be peachy keen. See all the weapons on the wall? Anyone who comes in here to hurt me will not leave this room alive. Besides, Shadow would hear them. He's a light sleeper," she said, looking up at the cat who had stayed on top of the bookcase during all the mayhem. "But if it'll make you happy," she said. She pulled a gun down off the wall and shot the wall connecting their rooms twice. Odd's eyes widened as she kicked the drywall until there was a two foot by two foot hole.

"What the hell?" he said.

"All we gotta do is make a little door on each side. Then, if you ever suspect that I'm being murdered in my sleep, you can look through the little door," she said. Odd laughed and looked through the hole.

"Well whaddya know, I can see my room," he said. Amaya laughed.

"You're a nut," she laughed. Odd stood up, stretched out, and yawned.

"I'd better get going to bed. I'll never be able to get up in the morning as it is," he yawned.

"Same here. I like sleeping almost as much as I love eating. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, and if you wake up with Shadow in your face, just tell him to go find me," she said.

"Okay, see you tomorrow then," he said, walking out and into his own room.

__

Outside...

"You didn't really have to walked me home Ulrich," Yumi said as they walked down the road that lead to Yumi's house.

"That's okay. I wasn't going to let you walk home with that Demetrius guy around. Besides, I wanted to," he said, blushing as he did so. Yumi blushed as well, looking over at the other side of the road.

"I had fun today. You know, aside from the part with a loon running around," she said.

"Yeah, me too," Ulrich said. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. To him, she was the most beautiful creature to ever grace this planet. And he was lucky enough to be one of her best friends. Yet, he was unfortunate enough to have the biggest crush on her. He would have to admire her from a distance forever more. She'd never return his feelings. And he might even go far enough to say that maybe what he felt for this beauty was... more than a crush.

"Well, here I am," she said sadly, as if she didn't want this to be her home. Just to walk a little longer on this beautiful night with him. "Thanks for walking me home Ulrich."

"You're-" he cut off when Yumi's lips connected with his cheek. She let them linger there for a few seconds. "Welcome," he finished almost breathlessly. Yumi blushed lightly.

"See you tomorrow," she said, walking into her house. Ulrich waved absentmindedly at her.

"See you..." he whispered, but somehow he knew she heard it. As her door closed, he turned around and walked back to school. Once he was out of sight of her house, he stopped walking and leaned up against a big tree. He sighed happily and touched the spot on his cheek where Yumi had kissed him. She, Yumi, had kissed him, Ulrich. He couldn't believe it. He grinned all the way back to school.

When he got back to his dorm, Odd was laying in his bed in a pair of boxers and a tee shirt, listening to his music with his eyes closed. Strangely, the music wasn't face-meltingly loud. It was soft and he seemed calm. But Ulrich didn't care. Odd opened his eyes and looked at Ulrich.

"Hey Ulrich," he said. Ulrich just walked into the room and sat down on his bed, grinning deliriously. Odd sat up and looked at him. "What's wrong with you? And why are you smiling like that? You look like a mental patient. Isn't that my job?" he asked. Ulrich just kept smiling and poked his cheek with a finger. Odd raised an eyebrow.

"Yumi," was all Ulrich said, before collapsing onto his bed. Odd smiled and rolled his eyes.

"I think it's safe to say that's you're a lovesick fool buddy," he said, lying back down and listening to his music once again. "And I thought Jeremie was bad..." he muttered to himself.

"Hang on, why isn't your music turned up so loud it'd melt your ears right off your fat head?" Ulrich asked. Odd shrugged.

"Not all music has to be listened to so loud it shakes the walls," he said. Ulrich's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Who are you and what have you done with Odd?" he asked.

"Amaya told me," Odd laughed. Ulrich walked over and banged on the wall.

"Yo, Amaya! Did you brainwash Odd into thinking music isn't supposed to be loud or something?" he shouted through the wall.

"Maybe," came Amaya's voice. He looked down and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Amaya's head sticking out of the wall.

"What the-" he said as he stepped back.

"She shot a hole in the wall," Odd said, not moving from his current position. Ulrich looked at him then back at Amaya.

"Is he serious?" he asked in astonishment.

"Yup," Amaya said happily. "Odd was afraid I was going to get murdered in my sleep by Demetrius. So I shot a hole in the drywall and kicked it in. I can add the little doors later," she said.

"You used a gun?" Ulrich asked, completely off topic.

"Yeah. It's easy. I've got like, fifteen of them," she said, grinning from ear to ear. She lifted her head as Shadow crawled under her and into Ulrich's room. He rubbed against Ulrich's leg and then leapt up onto his bed and curled up. Amaya frowned.

"Shadow, get over here you lazy cat," she said. The cat meowed and stayed put.

"Don't make me come over there mister," she told the cat, scowling when he stayed put. Ulrich chuckled.

"It's okay Amaya. He can stay in here if he wants. He's probably more entertaining than Kiwi anyway," he said, looking at the dog who was curled up at the end of Odd's bed. Odd opened one eye at the mention of his dog.

"He can come and go when he wants anyway. After all, there's a big hole in the wall," Odd grinned.

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow then. Be good Shadow," she said, looking at the cat once more before disappearing back through the hole.

"See you," Ulrich and Odd said in unison. Ulrich yawned and stretched.

"I'm going to bed. See you in the morning," he said tiredly.

"Night," Odd said, once again listening to his music. Shadow moved to the end of Ulrich's bed and fell asleep.

__

In Amaya's Room...

Amaya was reading a book in bed when she suddenly felt a chill go down her spine. She glanced at the window. It was shut tight. She rubbed her arms and continued to read. She couldn't focus. She looked around her room and her eyes landed on the box in which the falcon was being kept. The box was lined wit soft blankets and the falcon was resting inside. Amaya had wrapped it's wing in a piece of old shirt.

The falcon started hissing and making soft screeching noises. Amaya got up and looked into the box, to find that the falcon was sitting up and looking around at the confines of his box.

"It's alright birdie. No one's here," she said, gently stroking the birds soft feathers. "You need a name... Hmm how about Bullet?" she asked. The bird bobbed his head up and down. "I'll take that as a yes," she laughed. She turned around to get back to reading and gasped. Demetrius was sitting in her bed and reading her book. He looked up at her and smiled, showing her his fanglike teeth.

"I never knew you read this horror crap Amaya. I thought you would be the one to read actioney books. Looks like I _don't_ know everything about you," he said, tossing the book aside.

"How.. how did.. what are you..." Amaya stuttered, backing up.

"I have my ways dove," he said.

"I'm _not_ your dove you pervert," she snapped. "I never was and I never will be. So, go stalk someone else."

"But I don't want to stalk anyone else. I want _you_," he whispered. Amaya picked up Bullet and threw him at Demetrius. The bird, angry at being picked up from his comfortable box, bit, scratched, and clawed Demetrius. He tore threw his black shirt and clawed into his flesh. Surprisingly, Demetrius didn't make a sound. He opened the window and leapt out, throwing the bird onto the floor. Amaya rushed over to Bullet and picked him up, apologizing for throwing him. She looked out her window to see that no one was there. Not on the ground, not in the trees, not running away. No one.

"Screw him. Leave me alone Demetrius. You hear me? Leave me alone," she said into the night. She placed the Bullet back into his box and crawled into bed. She turned her desk lamp out and closed her eyes, falling into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

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so whaddya think? that was chapter five of my story. I have _no_ idea when I'm going to be able to update Just Because It's Wednesday. Well I must be off.. see you guys! don't forget to R/R!!


	6. Shaving Cream, Key Lime Pie, and Tornado...

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Disclaimer: Nope.. didn't go shopping.. so nope.. don't own a thing...

Claimer: I own Demetrius and Shadow and the horses and Mr. Gil and Cheeko and Snickers! Wah-hoo!

Notes: I like putting notes.. it's fun. Annoying to you, but fun for me! Yay!

Artemis of the Ice: I'm going to call you Artemis for short. Yay. I submitted my second chap to you and I'll be sending in the third one soon. I'm glad you like my story so far! You've been getting good reviews? From my story? Wow... O.O that's like... wow.. lol.

I am a bad bad girl. I have.... more story ideas. shameful yes I know. I was up really late last night watching Viva La Bam, South Park, The Days, WildBoyz, and Teen Titans so I kinda got ideas.... hmmm.. Well, Amaya's going to be in them and like it's all going to start over.. like yeah... Ski lifts, Australia, Christmas, and a whole shitload of other crap. I know some of you are thinking.. what is she doing using cuss words? It's PG-13 for cripes sake! Well, it's elementary my dear Watkins. takes pipe out of mouth and paces, causing trench coat to swish around It PG-13, you may curse, as long as you don't use the "F" word. And you may only use the "F" word ONCE. I know because.. well.. I know. YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!! eyes pop

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Ch. 6 Shaving Cream, Key Lime Pie, and Tornados

Yumi awoke the next morning to a dog barking it's head off outside. She groaned and rolled over onto her stomach. _I hate Mondays,_ she thought. But her thoughts were interrupted when her alarm went off. It was in the middle of a program where paranoid people called in to report ghost sightings.

"And then, I saw him! He was just standing there at the edge of the bridge, looking out over the little river like thing. He didn't jump, but he turned around and looked me directly in the eye! Then he ran! His arm was bleeding and he looked like he hadn't bathed in months. It was the seventeen year old boy that was shot three months ago. That Demetrius kid," the woman said all in one breath. Yumi sat bolt upright in her bed, staring at the alarm clock with wide eyes.

"This cannot be good," she whispered to herself. Before the woman could go into detail about what he looked like, she smacked her alarm clock and turned it off. But not before she heard where he had last been spotted. Near her house.

She got up and looked outside. The leaves were beginning to change colors, and some were already brown and orange. She could have sworn she saw something black in a bush in her front yard, but only for a split second. Throwing on her robe, she ran downstairs to make sure the front door was bolted shut. Only the lock was, well, locked, so she twisted the deadbolt so it locked as well. She didn't want a mental loon getting into her house. She hurried around and made sure all her windows were locked. She ran to the back door and opened it.

"Snickers! C'mon in boy!" Yumi called into her backyard. Her cocker spaniel came bounding in. He was white with patches of brown and really curly. She bent down and scratched him behind his ear. She slid the sliding glass door shut and locked it. Knowing that someone could open that lock with brute force, she put the bar in the track behind the door. The bar was nothing more than a big piece of wood.

With everything safely locked up, Yumi went upstairs and got ready for school. When she was done, about twenty minutes later, she put out fresh food and water for Snickers and fed her macaw, Cheeko. She grabbed her bag and peered out the window before carefully opening the front door. She grinned when she saw what was standing in front of her house.

"Hey there Juniper," she said to the horse. She tossed her black mane, signaling for Yumi to hop on.

"Did Amaya send you?" she asked, climbing on the horse and positioning herself in the saddle. Juniper tossed her head again and began walking toward the school. She kept hearing rustling in the bushes as they were walking. She never saw her follower until they were at school. It was Agrona. Seeing that they had made it safe, the wolf barked softly at Yumi, wagged her tail, and took off into the woods.

Yumi climbed off of Juniper and as soon as she was off, the horse galloped into the woods after Agrona. She walked into school and up to Amaya's room to see that the door was ajar. Even still, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," Amaya called from the inside. Yumi walked in to find Amaya zipping up a baggy gray hoodie.

"You got here safe, I hope?" Amaya asked, picking up a brush and brushing her long black hair.

"How'd you know to send a horse _and_ Agrona?" Yumi said.

"I heard it on the radio this morning when I woke up. I went and told Juniper where to go. To follow Demetrius' scent and that's where she'd find you. And Agrona followed you to make sure Juniper got there safe," Amaya explained.

"Well, thanks. I swore I saw him in a bush in front of my house. And on the radio this morning this lady called in and said that she saw him at the bridge near the factory. What was he doing near the factory?" Yumi wondered aloud, sitting on the bed.

"Ich wunderte mich die gleiche Sache," Amaya murmured quietly. Yumi looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Amaya grinned and blushed lightly.

"Sorry, sometimes when I'm thinking I switch to different languages without knowing. I said, I was wondering the same thing," she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Master Oroshie taught me a bunch of languages." She took out a can of shaving cream and squirted it on her dresser. She rubbed it around till it covered the entire dresser.

"Are you playing with shaving cream?" she asked. Amaya looked at her and grinned.

"It's a great cleaner actually," she said. She grabbed a dirty shirt and wiped her hands off. Now, I just let it sit all day and when I get back here, it'll be all funky and easy to wipe off. I'm hungry. Let's go down and get some food."

"Are the boys down there yet?" Yumi asked, getting up. Amaya grinned.

"Lemmie check," she said. she got down on all fours and stuck her head through the hole in the wall. "Nope, they're still out cold," she whispered. Yumi cracked a mischievous grin.

"Let's go wake 'em up," she said. Amaya smiled an equally mischievous grin.

"Whatever did you have in mind, my dear friend?" she asked in a sweet tone. Yumi whispered something into her ear, causing her to grin even wider. Their eyes glinted with mischievousness as they crept into the boys room. Yumi walked over to Ulrich and Amaya went over to Odd.

"One.." Yumi whispered.

"Two.." Amaya said a little louder.

"Three!" They shouted in unison. The boys woke up abruptly. Before they could sit up, however, Yumi and Amaya sat on their stomach's.

"Oof!" Ulrich groaned. Odd scrunched up his face then opened his eyes to see Amaya grinning down at him. Ulrich stuck his tongue out at Yumi. Both girls collapsed in fits of laughter and, much to the boys relief, slid off of them and onto the floor.

"Oh that was _priceless!_" Amaya exclaimed.

"The looks on your faces! Oh I wish I had my camera!" Yumi spit out. They paused for a moment and looked at each other, then at Ulrich and Odd, then at each other again, and then bursting into another wave of laughter. Ulrich and Odd looked at each other and their faces spread into evil grins. The girls noticed this and they stopped laughing.

"Ummm.. we're going to get going now..." Amaya said, dragging Yumi out the door. They scampered down to the cafeteria where Jeremie was waiting for his friends.

Ten minutes later, Ulrich and Odd walked into the cafeteria with identical evil smirks on their faces. Yumi and Amaya saw this, looked at each other, and tried to move to the other side of the table with Jeremie, where they would be safe. But Ulrich and Odd had already gotten there. The girls sat frozen in their seats. Ulrich put his arm around Yumi's shoulder and Odd did the same with Amaya.

"_Loved_ the wakeup call," Ulrich said in overly sweet tones.

"Yeah. Now I know not to forget to set my alarm," Odd chirped. Amaya looked at him.

"You guys.... aren't mad at us?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Ulrich shook his head.

"Nope. Not at all," Ulrich said convincingly. Yumi and Amaya relaxed.

"Okay, that's good. I'd better go check on my pets. Just to make sure they're okay," she said, getting up from the table and grabbing a pop tart.

"I'll come with you," Yumi said. "See you guys later." Once they were out of earshot, Jeremie looked at them.

"Revenge?"

"Oooh yeah," Odd said with an evil grin.

"Big time," Ulrich added. Jeremie shook his head.

__

Later.....

Yumi called Amaya as she was walking to the cafeteria.

"Hey, it's me. Have the guys tried anything funny?" she asked.

"Nope. I'll see you at lunch in a few minutes," she said.

"Mmkay. See you," Yumi said, hanging up. She met up with Amaya at the doors to the cafeteria about five minutes later. They walked into the cafeteria, got their food, and sat down. Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie walked in a minute later. They got their food and sat down with the girls. Jeremie looked like he was expecting the worst.

"What's wrong Jeremie? You look like- mmmph!" Yumi was cut off by Ulrich's slice of key lime pie colliding with her face. Amaya's fork stopped halfway to her mouth.

"What the- AAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" she shouted, arching her spine as something cold and gooey slipped down her back. Jeremie buried his face in his hands but shot up when a tuna fish sandwich was squashed on his head. The next thing they knew, someone shouted "FOOD FIGHT!"

Amaya flipped over the table and used it as a fort/bunker type thing. Food was flying every which way and no one was safe.

"Ahh! My hair! Do you people know how long it took to get it this perfect?!" Sissy shouted, pulling at her hair which now had syrup and peanut butter in it.

"Nope, and I don't care either," Amaya said as she dumped a soda on her head. Sissy let out a shriek of rage and ran after her. But as fate would have it, she slipped on a banana peal, slid across the floor, tripped over a chair, and landed in the trashcan. The food stopped flying and everyone was staring at Sissy, whose legs were sticking up in the air and kicking wildly. Then, everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter. Then, a dollop of pudding hit Odd in the back of the head and the mayhem started again.

Just then, Jim and the Principal came in.

"Stop this right now!" Jim shouted. He was answered not by silence but by food being thrown at him. The Principal decided it was best just to let this simmer down on it's own. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop a bunch of kids armed with food.

When it finally did stop, a half hour later, not a single person was clean. Everyone had food all over and their clothes sagged on their bodies from being caked with so much food. Amaya slumped down against a table.

"Not mad huh?" she asked Odd, who had sat down beside her. Odd grinned and wiped the food out of his hair as best he could. "You've been plotting that since this morning, haven't you?" Odd grinned again.

"We figured we'd give you your own wakeup call," he said.

"It's lunchtime! We didn't need a wakeup call now!" she pointed out. Odd shrugged.

"Just in case you were tempted to fall asleep in class." Amaya pushed him over, causing him to land in a pile of chocolate pudding and squished bananas.

"Too late for that then," she mumbled. "Chemistry class is the worst."

"Amen to that," Odd agreed. "Oh look it's raining." Amaya grinned, stood up, and dragged Odd outside, also pulling along Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremie.

"Where, pray tell, are we going?" Yumi asked.

"To get clean," Amaya said. She led them outside where it was pouring. Fat raindrops fell on their heads. She twirled around and howled, grinning from ear to ear.

"C'mon you guys! Live a little!" she shouted to her friends. They looked at each other, shrugged, and danced around with her. Soon, Agrona and all of the horses came running out of the forest. Agrona barked happily and danced around on her hind legs. Storm reared up and neighed. The horses cantered around, kicking and tossing their manes happily.

Inside, Sissy had pulled herself out of the trashcan. She let out a cry of frustration and stomped around the food covered cafeteria, cursing and swearing that she would get even.

"Where is that little brat? I'll teach her a lesson!" she screeched. Herb pointed to the window. She stormed over to it and looked outside. Ulrich and his friends were dancing around in the rain with six horses and a wolf.

"He's dancing?! With a wolf?!" Sissy was outraged. "He'll dance with a damn wolf but not with me! That Amaya girl's poisoned their minds. She's evil." Sissy stormed outside and walked up to them. Everyone in the clearing stopped dancing and laughing. The animals stopped running about and looked at her.

"Ulrich, what do you think you're doing?!" Sissy yelled. Ulrich was holding onto Agrona's front paws as the wolf stood on her hind legs.

"Well, I was having fun. But now, I'm wishing I was locked in a cage. At least I'd be safe from you," he said, glaring at her. Behind him, they covered their mouths with their hands to try and hide their laughter.

"That's wolf's going to turn on you and bite your hand off," Sissy accused, pointing a finger at Agrona. The wolf dropped onto all fours and faced Sissy with her teeth bared. Sissy glared at the wolf and then at Amaya.

"You little wench! You've poisoned their minds! You are an evil, evil thing!" she shouted, now pointing at Amaya. Amaya raised her eyebrows.

"Yup, I'm evil alright. Sorry guys, I'm an evil thing. And this," she said sarcastically, pulling out a dagger from her belt loop, "is my Talisman of Purest Evil. I can kill anything with it. What can _you_ do?" Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, and Odd laughed. "I just can't wait to gut them all like little fishies." He jammed her dagger back in her belt loop.

"See! She's got everything! She just wants to kill you!" Sissy shouted. Amaya's eyes darkened and narrowed.

"Yup, I've got everything I've ever dreamed of. No parents, no grandmother, no real family. Oh, yeah, this life is the best," she sneered, advancing on Sissy. "Oh, and try being stalked by a psychotic madman." Sissy visibly paled and backed up. "So until you know me, and know everything about me, don't you ever say I have everything," she spat venomously. Sissy said nothing, only stuck her nose in the air, crossed her arms, and walked away.

Amaya laid down on the wet ground and looked up at the sky.

"Why do you hate me?" she mumbled. Yumi laid down next to her.

"Don't feel bad Amaya. Sissy's just a vicious, cold-blooded--" she was cut off by Odd.

"A piece of pie?" Odd said as he pulled it out of his pocket. Amaya had the ghost of a grin on her face.

"I would have said bitch, but that works too. I never thought of Sissy as a vicious, cold-blooded piece of pie," she said wonderingly. Odd laughed.

"That's Sissy alright. Evil, cold, malicious, Ulrich-crazy..." he said with a grin. Ulrich scowled and leapt at him.

"Dog pile!" Yumi shouted. Jeremie landed on top of Ulrich, Yumi on him, and Amaya on top. (get your minds out of the gutter you pervs!) Amaya grinned and looked down at Odd's head.

"Awww aren't you happy to see us?" she said in a baby voice.

"I dunno. Fortunately, I cleverly used my spine to break your fall," he said.

"You don't sound happy."

"I'm surprised I sound anything. I can't breathe." The group laughed and climbed off of poor Odd. Ulrich helped him to his feet.

"Well, now that we're all squeaky clean, I suggest we get changed. Yumi, you can borrow some of my clothes," Amaya said. "Then, we can have some hot chocolate."

"You drink hot chocolate in September?" Odd asked. Amaya shrugged.

"It's one of those things I do. Whenever I'm done in the rain, I always have a nice mug of hot chocolate. Okay all you party animals! To the woods!" Amaya said to her pets. She gave each of them a kiss goodbye and watched as they walked into the woods.

"Actually, hot chocolate sounds good. It's getting chilly and being wet doesn't help much," Jeremie pointed out. They all went to their rooms and changed into dry clothes and met in the lobby. The decided to stay under the hood of the building and to make a mad dash for the drink machines as fast as possible. Once they had gotten to the machines, they each got a big cup of hot chocolate. They sat down on the cement and drank their drinks.

Odd looked down at his cup of hot chocolate. He wasn't touching it, but there were ripples in it. He looked at his friends drinks. They too had ripples in them. The cement in front of Jeremie cracked. The trees began to bend so far over that their trunks were in danger of cracking. Ulrich looked across the grounds.

"Oh Christ," he muttered.

"Is that a-?" Odd began.

"Tornado," Yumi finished. The five of them abandoned their drinks and hightailed it toward the forest.

"We're not gonna outrun it! Did you see the size of that thing?" Jeremie shouted to his friends.

"The thing was huge! You think it could be Xana?" Yumi asked.

"Most likely. I mean, when was the last time we had a tornado come through here? What was it, the 70's?" Odd pointed out. "You guys go to the factory and get in touch with Aelita. I'll distract the tornado."

"I'll come with you," Amaya volunteered.

"No way. I can handle it," he said but Amaya shook her head.

"It'll be more convincing with two people," she said.

"What're you going to do, run around in front of the tornado while it sucks you up and spits you out five hundred miles away?" Jeremie asked.

"Horses can outrun tornados, right? They did it in Twister," he said. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"And that tornado was made out of a nylon stocking," she said.

"That was the Wizard of Oz," Ulrich pointed out.

"Oh," Yumi said. Amaya slapped her forehead as she ran, berating herself for not think of that earlier.

"Of course! We'll take Storm and Mystic. I think they're the fastest," she said. They ran into the woods and found the horses and Agrona. Jeremie took Juniper, Ulrich took Lily, and Yumi took Scrunchy. Agrona scared Sky into a run and they ran behind the to the factory.

Amaya hoisted herself up onto Storm's back, not bothering with a saddle. Odd did the same with Mystic, and they took off after the tornado. Once they got the twister in sight, Odd took one side of it and Amaya took the other.

"Yo! Down here you big horses ass!" she shouted to the tornado, standing on Storm's hindquarters. "No pun intended Storm." The tornado seemed to look down at her, then seemed to toss his head back, and then seemed to laugh maniacally.

"Obviously you haven't read your Evil Overlord Handbook lately. Rule number twenty clearly states that despite its proven stress-relieving effect, one will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly," she said. The tornado "laughed" again and divided into two twisters.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that," she said, biting her lip.

"You think?" Odd shouted to her. "You take one and I'll take the other!" Amaya nodded and tore after one of the tornados. It was heading for the Electrical Plant. Amaya urged Storm in front of the tornado. She managed to divert the twisters attention from the plant to herself, and she was now drawing it away from the plant.

Odd cell phone began to ring.

"Odd, it's Jeremie. Xana's up to no good," he said.

"Yeah I can see that. The tornado's split into two. Amaya's chasing one of them and I've got the other. And it seems to be heading to the Toxic Waste Plant," Odd said breathlessly.

"Xana's going to drench the whole city in acid! Odd, you've got to stop that tornado!" Jeremie shouted into Odd's ear.

"Relax Jer'. When have we _not_ stopped one of Xana's monsters?" he asked.

"You're right. But please, just hurry up," Jeremie said before hanging up. Odd jammed his cell phone back into his pocket and continued chasing the tornado.

Just as he was about to run into the forest, a large piece of wood caught him in the stomach, knocked the wind out of him, and threw him off of Mystic. He expected the horse to keep running, but she didn't. Noticing the absence of her rider, she stopped and turned around, walking back to him and nudging him with her nose.

Odd raised his hand up and pet Mystic's velvety nose, smiling faintly.

"You're a good girl Mystic. Go get Amaya," he said. Mystic tossed her head, reared up, and took off at a flat out run to find Amaya. Odd pulled his cell phone out and dialed Amaya's number.

"Yeah?" she answered breathlessly.

"It's me, Odd. I got knocked off Mystic. She's coming to get you," he said.

"Oh my god are you okay?" she asked a bit frantically. Odd let out a small laugh even though it hurt.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just hurry," he said.

"Okay," she said. She hung up but not before she heard the thundering of hooves. Odd pocketed his cell and leaned back against the tree. Mystic had gotten there really quickly. He wondered if Amaya's horses were "Royal" horses, like Agrona. Then he wondered why she sounded so damn worried on the phone. Sure, the tornado could come, suck him up, and -poof- no more Odd. But he'd be fine. He hoped. Before another thought could enter his mind, Amaya came galloping up to him on Storm, followed by Mystic. The horses were flinging up chunks of mud and dirt. Amaya dismounted Storm and rushed over to Odd.

"Are you okay? Do you think you broke any bones?" she asked, checking him over and resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm perfectly fine. Just a bump on the head and I got the wind knocked out of me for a minute. But otherwise I'm fine," he said.

"Okay, let's get you back on Mystic" she said. She helped Odd back on Mystic and climbed onto Storm. They took off just as the tornados merged back into one and blazed after them.

After a while, they figured that they could hide in smaller areas if they were off the horses. They half climbed, half fell off the horses and Amaya told them to get out of here, and to check back either later today or tomorrow. She kissed the horses on the nose and they took off side by side. Amaya's eyes scanned the area in search of refuge.

"Over there! There's a ditch!" she shouted to Odd over the roaring winds and flying debris. She pointed to a spot about twenty-five feet away where there was indeed a ditch. They walked, in Odd's case, hobbled, over to the ditch. They discovered there was a large cement drainage tunnel there with a small stream of water running through it. Even though the tunnel was larger than most, they still had to crouch down to stand in it. They walked to the center and sat down, listening to the flying debris hitting the exposed parts of the tunnel.

"What do we do now?" Odd asked.

"Wait here and hope for the best..." Amaya responded sadly. They waited for what seemed like ages in silence, listening to the sound of people screaming and running away, cars swerving and turning around, and trees cracking in two. Finally, it seemed like the tornado had stopped. Neither of them had heard from Jeremie at all, so they didn't know what was going on in Lyoko.

"I'm going to see what's going on out there," Odd finally said, breaking the silence.

"Are you sure? I don't think it's a good idea..." Amaya said warily. But Odd was already crawling down to the mouth of the tunnel. His pants, from the knees down, were now wet with dirty water. Amaya crawled behind him to make sure he was okay. Unfortunately, Lady Luck was not with them.

"Holy shit!" Odd shouted. Amaya grabbed his ankle just before the winds swept him away. Odd's eyes widened in horror as he floated in the air.

"I told you it was a bad idea!" Amaya told him through gritted teeth.

"Okay okay! Next time we're trapped in a tunnel by a tornado who wants us really dead, I'll listen to you when you tell me not to go out there!" he shouted back to her. "Now pull me in!" He realized that if he ever wanted to see the light of day again, it depended on Amaya pulling him in. He hoped to god she could do it.

_Pulling him in would be so much easier if I weren't playing tug-o-war with a frickin' tornado,_ she thought as she struggled to pull him back to safety.

"Odd, give me your hand!" she shouted. With great effort, Odd twisted and squirmed until he was able to clasp her hand. She had one hand in his and the other was wrapped around his wrist.

Finally, with one last sharp tug, she managed to haul him in. She flew back and the Fates, being mischievous little things, caused Odd to land on top of her. Their eyes locked on each others. They were each oblivious to blushes creeping up on their faces. Odd finally broke the gaze and got up off of her, offering his hand to her. Amaya gladly took it and hauled herself up. She dusted herself off and threw her arms around his neck, catching him off guard. His eyes were wide but he patted her back awkwardly anyway.

"You nut, next time I tell you it's not a good idea, take my advice and listen to me, will you?" she said.

"Oh, alright. Go ahead and take the fun out of life," he said with a mock sigh. Amaya pulled back and rolled her eyes.

"Dork," she said, pushing him over. He fell into the water with a splash. Before he could do anything in retaliation, a white light filled the tunnel and they were returned to the past.

-=-=-=-=-

Amaya's cell phone went off as soon as everything was normal again.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Amaya, you and Odd should come down to the factory now," came the voice of Yumi. She didn't sound normal though. She sounded like she had been crying for a while. Her nose sounded stuffy and she was sniffing.

"Yumi, what's wrong?" she asked concernedly.

"I'll explain everything when you get down here," she said as she sniffled again. She hung up. Amaya turned to Odd, who was sitting on his bed petting Shadow.

"Something's wrong with Yumi. She said we've got to get over to the factory now," she said gravely. "Something's not right...." The made a straight beeline for the factory, not even bothering to close the door properly. When they got to the main computer room, Jeremie was in his chair with his head in his hands and Yumi was kneeling on the floor, crying softly into her hands. Amaya walked over to her and knelt down beside her.

"Yumi what's wrong? Where's Ulrich?" she asked. Yumi raised her head to look at Amaya. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her cheeks were tear stained.

"He's gone," she said her voice not even a whisper. Amaya's eyebrows fused together.

"What...?" She didn't understand what Yumi meant by "gone."

"H-he fell into the d-digital v-v-void. He's v-virtual f-forever." Yumi barely got the last word out before she broke down completely. Amaya wrapped her arms around her friend as her eyes glazed over. Tears formed but did not fall. Odd could see the tears glistening in her eyes as he tried to hold his own in. His best friend. Gone.

_No... this isn't happening. It's all just some crazy dream. Yeah.. Just a dream... There's no way Ulrich could have fallen into the void. He's way too careful in there..._ Odd thought. He looked over at Jeremie. His eyes shined with tears as well and he nodded slowly. Odd shook his head in disbelief and backed up into the wall. He slowly slid down till he was sitting on the floor. He tugged at his hair and buried his face into his knees.

_Why Ulrich? Why _us_? Why were _we_ chosen to save the world? It could as well have been Sissy, Herb, and Nicolas,_ he thought bitterly. _But no. It was us. Why? Why...?_

"I... I... I just can't believe it..." Jeremie said softly. Amaya rocked Yumi back and forth as she cried into her shoulder.

"Why did if have to be Ulrich? Why?" Yumi sobbed.

"I wish I knew, Yumi," she said shakily. "I wish I knew..." Amaya glanced at Odd and saw that he had his head buried in his knees and he was tugging on his hair. Even though she hadn't known them that long, Amaya already considered them like family to her.

"I'm so sorry Yumi. If I hadn't been so stubborn and just went with you guys to Lyoko then this wouldn't have happened," she whispered. Odd looked up.

"Amaya, it's not your fault. It's no one's fault. Don't blame it on yourself," he said. His eyes were slightly red and the knees of his pants were a little bit wet.

"No. It _wasn't_ your fault. Don't beat yourself up about it," Jeremie said. Amaya looked up and directly into his eyes.

"Send me to Lyoko," she said with finality.

* * *

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well there was chapter six! what did you think? I know, a cliffhanger. •ducks rotten food• 12 pages! yay! i would have typed more but i'm really tired here. i'll start working on the next chapter tomorrow, i promise! and I've got an idea for a one-shot so I'll type that and get it up. But anyway, R/R please!!


	7. Authors Note PLEASE READ!

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Did you see what Cartoon Network did?! NO MORE CODE LYOKO ON MIGUZI! That means we only get to see Code Lyoko on Sunday's! That had me soooo mad! And this is what I told my brother: (he watches code lyoko too) "We need to rebel. What we need to do is watch Totally Spies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, turn it off when that new show... Energons or whatever... comes on, and then turn it back on when teen titans comes on. When cartoon network realizes that no one is watching the new show, then they'll be compelled to change it back to the good old Miguzi that we love." That's what I told my little brother and he agreed with me. I don't have anything against that new show I just want code lyoko back on at the usual time.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to write to cartoon network. You don't have to, but I think it would be cool, and maybe cartoon network would realize people want code lyoko back on at its normal time, if a bunch of people wrote in about it. email me at if you want. Like I said, you don't have to do it if you don't want to.

STORY NEWS: I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible but the evil teachers decided that they would pile loads of homework on the seniors. My younger sister (a freshman) said that she's barely getting any homework. Ugg! But anyways, I'll be getting the next chapter typed and all as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! (kisses)

Love always,

Enya


	8. Lost and Found

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Disclaimer: Aww c'mon! Do I really have to say I don't own it again?

Claimer: I own everything that doesn't appear in Code Lyoko. Except for Amaya, Agrona, Storm, Mystic, and Shadow.

To those who reviewed, thank you so much! And to those of you who reviewed Sweet Memories, thank you all too!

Notes: Well, not much notes this time... so I guess I'll just let you read. Aren't you the lucky ones? LoL!

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Ch. 7 The Light of Day

"Why? Amaya, you can't bring him back," Jeremie reasoned. Amaya glanced at the computer.

"Maybe I can find out what caused him to fall into the void," she said. Yumi sniffled.

"He was hit by a crab. It knocked him into the void. I tried to reach him but I just wasn't fast enough," she said weakly.

"Okay," Amaya looked down at the ground. "If you say so." But the gears were turning in her head already. She'd find a way to get her friend back. Xana already claimed her parents; she wasn't going to let him take her friends. The four of them sat in silence for a while before Odd spoke.

"Let's get back to school. I bet Jim's looking for us," he said quietly. Jeremie said goodbye to a teary Aelita and turned off the computer. Amaya helped Yumi up and linked arms with her. The four of them walked out of the factory and would be happy never to go back there again.

When they got back to the school, it was five o'clock and time for dinner. Amaya asked Yumi if she'd like to stay the night. Yumi called her parents and they agreed, refraining from asking their daughter why she was so upset. The four of them walked into the cafeteria, none of them having much of an appetite. Sissy sashayed over to them.

"Ulrich, I need to talk to you dear!" she said, looking for him. "Where is he?" Jeremie jammed his hands in his pockets and hung his head, a tear slipped down Yumi's cheek, Amaya wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder, and Odd glared at Sissy, not saying a word.

"Where is he? I need to talk to him!" she demanded. She placed her fists on her hips. "Well?"

"If we knew where he was, he'd be with us," Odd grumbled, shoving past her roughly. Sissy gasped in shock at not only the fact that Ulrich was missing but that Odd didn't say something comically insulting about her and wasn't smiling. She had always thought he had a permanent smile on his face.

"Wha-" she began, but Amaya cut her off.

"We don't know where he is, okay. So back off," she replied moodily. Another tear slipped down Yumi's face. Jeremie took her over to where Odd was sitting with his head in his arms, which left Amaya standing with her fists at her side, glaring at Sissy.

"Even if we knew where he was, we wouldn't be telling you. And get over him. He doesn't like you, and he never will," she told Sissy, ice and malice hanging off of every word. Sissy stood there, gaping at Amaya as she walked over to her friends. Her bottom lip protruded in anger as she glared at the group.

Where was Ulrich? What were they keeping from her? Whatever it was, she didn't care. She just wanted to find Ulrich and figure out what was going on.

"Some friends they are... hmmph.. they don't even know where he is!" she murmured a bit angrily to herself as she walked down the hallway and outside.

"Ulrich!" she called out into the early night air. "Ulrich dear, it's me! Sissy! Where are you?" No answer. _Urrg! Where is he?_ She heard dead leaves rustling around on the forest floor. She smirked.

"Ulrich, c'mon out! I know you're in there! You don't want to get locked out here and have to sleep under the sky, do you?" she called. She stared intently at the mouth of the forest, waiting for him to come out. Instead of Ulrich, a baby horse came bounding out. (A/N: when she said "sky" he came out.) The little colt jumped around her in circles.

"You're one of those horses Ulrich was dancing with earlier, aren't you?" she asked, hesitantly reaching out to pet it. Sky whinnied and continued to leap around her. Sissy rolled her eyes.

"Can. You. Take. Me. To. Ulrich?" she asked the colt, pronouncing each word slowly. The colt jumped around her once more and took off into the forest.

"Hey! Wait!" Sissy called, running after him. She ran through the forest, following Sky. When the sound of his hooves stopped, she stopped running and walked into a clearing. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. Five big horses were milling around, some grazing lightly at the grass, the wolf Ulrich was dancing with was laying on her side, causing her to look like someone had shot her and she had just fallen over, and a rather long snake was on top of a shed-like thing.

"Oh, this is madness!" Sissy cried. With a shriek, she ran out of the clearing and back into the school. Her fear quickly turned to anger as soon as she saw Odd, Jeremie, Yumi, and Amaya.

"Where the hell is Ulrich? I know you know where he is so tell me!" she demanded angrily. Odd looked up and glared at her, rage, pain, and sorrow in his eyes.

"I'd love to see you find him," he muttered darkly before standing up so abruptly he overturned his chair. He stormed out of the cafeteria, muttering dark curses to himself.

"Amaya, I'm going to go lie down," Yumi murmured, wiping the fresh tears from her face. Amaya nodded and watched Yumi leave.

"I'm going to go talk to Aelita for a while," Jeremie whispered. Amaya nodded again and watched Jeremie walk out of the cafeteria.

"Well?" Sissy barked impatiently.

"Do me a favor, and go suck off a monkey," Amaya sneered. Sissy stood where she was, staring at Amaya's retreating back, fuming and spluttering with anger and rage.

-----

Yumi stood outside the door to Ulrich's room. She opened the door slowly, new tears running down her face, and stepped inside. She walked over to Ulrich's bed and laid down on it. She hugged his pillow close to her and breathed in his scent deeply. She nearly smiled when she saw the red stain on the pillowcase.

Ulrich and Odd were doing something goofy or another and had both Yumi and Jeremie laughing hysterically. Yumi, who was holding a glass of juice, fell over, spilling the contents of the juice all over the pillowcase. That juice stain never came out.

A new wave of tears washed over her face as she really realized that she would never see Ulrich again. He was lost in the digital void forever, and there was nothing she could do about it. She missed him already; his laugh, his smile, his seriousness, his chest. Wait! His chest?

_Well, he is awfully sexy,_ she told herself. She remembered once when he took his green over shirt off leaving him in nothing but his wife-beater (you know that tank top? that's what I call it). Damn he was good-looking. But now, she had nothing left of him. Yumi buried her face into his pillow and sobbed into it, wishing he was there to comfort her and tell her everything is alright.

-----

Amaya walked outside and looked around. She glanced over at the forest to see Odd kicking a tree with his hands shoved in his pockets. She walked up behind him, not saying a word. But Odd seemed to notice her presence.

"He was my best friend. Always there for me not matter what. He helped me study, made me laugh when I was down. He stuck by my side and kept my secrets without even teasing me about them. I've known him for what seems like my entire life," he said, staring at the ground with his back still to her.

"I know how you feel. Literally. My parents were murdered, as was my grandmother. I've had no friends up until now," Amaya whispered.

"I can't say you're wrong, cause you're not. But I still miss him more than anything," he said, turning around to face her. His eyes were somewhat red and his cheeks had barely visible tear stains on them.

"We'll find a way to get him back. I promise," Amaya said. She looked at him with sympathy in her emerald eyes and held her arms open. Odd hung his head and slowly walked over to her. He hugged her tightly, burying his head into her shoulder.

"I still can't believe he's gone..." he murmured into her shoulder. "It just doesn't seem possible. He's always been.. so careful in there." Amaya hugged him back, closing her eyes. The leaves rustled behind them and when they turned around, Agrona was standing there with her head down and her tail tucked between her legs. She slowly made her way over to them and stopped in front of Odd. She reared back and stood on her hind legs, resting her front paws on Odd's chest. She licked his face gingerly, as if trying to say, 'Sorry about your friend.' Agrona fell back onto all four paws. Odd fell to his knees and threw his arms around Agrona's neck.

"Thanks Agrona," he whispered, ruffling the wolf's fur. Agrona licked Amaya's hand before walking back into the forest. Odd stood up next to Amaya and watched the enormous wolf disappear into the foliage.

"Miss me much?"

-----

Yumi was still in Ulrich's room, on his bed, crying into his pillow when her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Her nose was congested from crying so hard and she sounded like she was sick.

"Yumi? It's Odd. You'd better get outside. You _need_ to see this," he sounded frantic, disbelieving, and excited all at once.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Look out the window." And then he hung up. Yumi threw her cell onto the bed and ran to the window. Sure enough, it was something she wanted to see. It was Ulrich.

But there was something funny about him. Even in the night, his skin looked darker. Like he had spent five hours in a tanning bed. She pushed the thoughts of him being a Jamaican robot in the back of her head and tore out of the room. She flew down the stairs and out of the school, right over to Ulrich, Jeremie, Amaya, and Odd.

****

My dear fans I'm sorry you had to wait so long and I'm sorry it's so short. But I'm having a bit of a writers block V.V so just bear with me please. I'm working on the next update but be pre-warned... it will probably take a while for the next chapter. I'm soooo sorry in advanced. I'm also working on the update to Livin' It Up, but that may take a little while also...-- i hate writers block... well thanks for reading! R/R please!!


	9. The Newer, Badder Ulrich or Maybe That J

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Disclaimer and Claimer have been the same throughout the entire story. I don't own anything, except for a few choice characters. I really need to own Code Lyoko, because then I'd make it air more often! Heehee.

I just want to apologize for not updating this like I should have. It's been a little over a year, though it doesn't feel like it. I guess, with the show being off the air, I kinda lost any ideas. And, I didn't have any new ideas, either. But now that the show is back, I hope to be updating more. But with the addition of the 5th sector, it's made story writing a whole lot harder; not to mention all the plot twists --; But here's a short update for you, and I hope to have a longer one up in the future Much love to all of you who have waited, and I'm SOOOO sorry that wait was so long!

Ch. 9 _The Newer, Badder Ulrich _or _Maybe That Jamaican Robot Theory Wasn't Such A Bad Idea_

---

Yumi rushed down the stairs and out into the schoolyard. As she ran, the air blowing against her felt cold on her tear streaked face. Ulrich! Ulrich was back! Whenever she doubted a God existed, some miracle happened that made her believe again.

"Ulrich!" Yumi breathed. He turned and looked at her. She didn't know how he heard her; she had spoken in not even a whisper. He smiled broadly and opened his arms. Though not usually a gesture Ulrich would make, she accepted the offer and ran into his arms, hugging him fiercely. Feeling that he was real flesh and blood, a new wave of tears cascaded down her already damp cheeks.

"Oh, Ulrich. I've missed you so much!" she whispered.

"I've missed you too." When he wrapped his arms around her, he let his hands slide down a bit more that what was customary of Ulrich. She was bothered by this, but didn't let it show.

"How you get out of Lyoko? I thought you were virtual forever?" Odd asked when Yumi pulled back. Ulrich shrugged.

"I don't even know. All I remember is blacking out and then walking out of the factory."

"You mean you don't remember anything?" Jeremie asked. It didn't seem right. Yumi had been like that before, and she didn't just waltz out of the factory. Ulrich shrugged again.

"I just don't remember anything. I wish I did, though. Then I'd be able to tell you and we'd be able to bring Aelita here!" he said with a laugh. Jeremie's mouth formed an 'o'. It didn't seem right, though. He'd have to talk to Aelita about this later. Odd clapped Ulrich on the back.

"It's good to have you back, buddy," he said, not hiding the relief in his voice. Yumi and Amaya nodded.

"I'm just glad Xana didn't take you for good," Amaya said with a smile. Ulrich just nodded, then yawned.

"I'm really tired you guys. I'm just going to go to bed, okay?" The group bid Ulrich goodnight and watched him retreat back to the dorms. The four friends exchanged glances that held skepticism in them, but said nothing.

"The tornados," Jeremie finally said, breaking the silence. They nodded in agreement and walked into the forest, searching for the clearing and the shed. Once found, Agrona trotted up to them and gave Yumi's hand a swipe with her tongue. Giving the wolf a pat on the head, she followed the others into the shed. They sat down on the wooden floor in a circle.

"Since when can Xana control natural disasters?" Jeremie asked. Odd held up his hands.

"Wait a minute. Since we're discussing something this important, shouldn't we get Ulrich, even if he is tired?" Yumi's eyes went wide.

"No!" She blushed when everyone's eyes were on her. "I mean, we should let him rest. I'll tell him all about it later." Odd nodded and motioned for Jeremie to continue.

"As far as we know, Xana can only control things if electricity or an outlet is near the object. Tornados aren't electrical," he stated. Amaya shook her head. "So how did he manage to gain control over a tornado?"

"I dunno, but if he can control a tornado, who's to say he can't control anything else that has to do with the weather?" Amaya asked.

"Xana's breaking the rules of reality here..." Odd muttered. Yumi looked down at her hands.

"So are we, every time we go into Lyoko," she whispered.

"Yumi's right. We both bend and twist the laws of reality here, but it's real to us, whether it's real to others or not. That means that what Xana is doing is real. _Real_ is what we need to worry about," Jeremie said. Silence followed his speech.

"Ulrich was different," Yumi said with a sigh.

"Then I'm not losing it," Amaya said. "I agree with Yumi. He just didn't seem... like Ulrich." Odd furrowed his brow.

"What about him didn't seem like Ulrich? He seemed plenty Ulrich-ey to me," he said.

"I dunno. Just his actions, the way he talked, the way he laughed. It didn't feel right. Didn't feel like that was _our_ Ulrich," Yumi shrugged. The four of them sat in contemplative silence for a few moments before Jeremie spoke up.

"Remember what happened to Yumi not too long ago? When the real Yumi was stuck in Lyoko?" Odd and Yumi nodded, while Amaya sat confused.

"I'm missing something, right?"

"Not too long ago, Yumi got into a little predicament. The real Yumi was stuck inside of a guardian in Lyoko, and a replicate of her that Xana made was with us, here," Jeremie explained. "We didn't realize that until it was almost too late."

"So what you're saying is that Ulrich might be in this thing called a guardian, and that the Ulrich back at school is a fake?" Amaya asked, amazed. Jeremie nodded.

"That about sums it up." Amaya stared at the floor.

"Damn. This sucks." The others nodded in agreement. She looked back up at them. "What are we going to do now?"

"We don't want to do anything stupid. Ulrich might figure it out. And also we might have this whole situation totally wrong. I mean, what if that really is Ulrich? He won't be too happy if we accuse him of being something evil..." Yumi said.

"There's nothing much we can do, really, until we know more. I think we should just go to bed, and talk about it tomorrow. It's a Friday, so we can decide what we want to do then and carry it all out over the weekend," Odd suggested.

"You know, that's the most reasonable thing I've ever heard out of you, Odd," Jeremie grinned. Odd stuck his tongue out at his friend. "I'll contact Aelita before I go to bed and fill her in on the situation. Then she can check out Lyoko overnight and I'll check in with her in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan. If you want, I'll send Agrona to keep watch over the factory for tonight," Amaya offered.

"Just to be on the safe side. Let's all get up earlier tomorrow morning, okay?" Yumi said, looking at her friends. They nodded.

"It's settled then. Let's meet back here at 5:30. Sound good?" They nodded again.

Amaya got up and went outside. She told Agrona to go and guard the factory, and not to let anyone she didn't recognize in. With a bark and a tail-wag, the wolf was off. The others walked out of the shed.

"Let's get back to school. It's late, and I'm tired," Yumi said. Odd yawned.

The four friends walked back up to the school. Jeremie, bidding them goodnight, departed to his dorm. Amaya invited Yumi to stay with her tonight, and Yumi accepted, calling her parents to let her know where she was. Odd went into his and Ulrich's room a little reluctantly; he didn't know what to say to his best friend after calling him a fake behind his back.

-----

In his room, Jeremie logged onto his computer.

"Aelita? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," came her voice. Relief spread through him. She was fine. Thank goodness.

"Aelita, did you notice anything... weird?" He asked her.

"In what sense?"

"Like, I don't know, _Ulrich_ weird. 'Cause he's back. But... he's different. He just doesn't seem the same," Jeremie explained.

"Would you like me to take a look around?" She asked.

"It would be appreciated."

"Consider it done. I'll contact you later," she said, signing out.

"Good luck, Aelita," he whispered to himself, since Aelita was no longer there to hear him. Turning his computer off, he changed into his pajamas and crawled under the covers.


End file.
